Bloomington, IL,
15
August
2018
|
07:00 AM
America/Chicago

New Report: Don’t Forget the Role of Humans in Autonomous Vehicle Safety

Even as self-driving technology reduces crashes, imperfect human operators will still share the road and share the wheel.

Because human error is the cause of the large majority of car crashes, autonomous vehicles (AVs) have the potential to greatly improve safety. In the near future, however, there will continue to be crashes involving AVs as they share the road with vehicles driven by humans.

A new report from the Governors Highway Safety Association, Preparing for Automated Vehicles: Traffic Safety Issues for States, finds that most AVs for the foreseeable future will share driving responsibility with humans. Drivers will still exert significant control and will be able to change their vehicle’s level of automation, just as drivers today can activate or deactivate cruise control.

Automated vehicles will bring new traffic safety issues to the states. This report suggests how law enforcement and state highway offices should prepare for them.

“Many people are unconvinced of the safety benefits of AVs and unwilling to share the road or to ride in them,” said Ryan Gammelgard, Counsel at State Farm®. “However, research suggests that public enthusiasm and support will grow as people learn more about AVs and are able to experience them first-hand, and if there is objective proof that the technology operates better than humans.”

The report was authored by Dr. Jim Hedlund, a former senior official with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and funded by State Farm.

The full report is available here.

 

About State Farm®:

For over 100 years, the mission of State Farm has been to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected and realize their dreams. State Farm and its affiliates are the largest providers of auto and home insurance in the United States. Its more than 19,400 agents and 67,000 employees serve over 91 million policies and accounts – including auto, fire, lifehealth, commercial policies and financial services accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for rentersbusiness ownersboats and motorcycles, is also available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 44 on the 2023 Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com.

Media Contact