Obama Administration To Invest $4 Billion in Autonomous Cars

We are on the cusp of a new era in automotive technology with enormous potential to save lives, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and transform mobility for the American people, said Secretary Foxx, the United States Secretary of Transportation.

Only a few short days after his State of the Union address, The Obama Administration today revealed part of the presidents proposal: a 10-year, nearly $4 billion investment to accelerate the development and adoption of safe vehicle automation through real-world pilot projects. This could go a long way towards not only the technology behind the cars themselves, but also other barriers to these technologies from being fully integrated in our roadways.

NHTSA is using all of its available tools to accelerate the deployment of technologies that can eliminate 94 percent of fatal crashes involving human error, said NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind. We will work with state partners toward creating a consistent national policy on these innovations, provide options now and into the future for manufacturers seeking to deploy autonomous vehicles, and keep our safety mission paramount at every stage.

DOT is committing to the following milestones in 2016:

• Within six months, NHTSA will work with industry and other stakeholders to develop guidance on the safe deployment and operation of autonomous vehicles, providing a common understanding of the performance characteristics necessary for fully autonomous vehicles and the testing and analysis methods needed to assess them.

• Within six months, NHTSA will work with state partners, the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, and other stakeholders to develop a model state policy on automated vehicles that offers a path to consistent national policy.

• Secretary Foxx encouraged manufacturers to submit rule interpretation requests where appropriate to help enable technology innovation. For example, NHTSA responded to an interpretation request from BMW confirming that the companys remote self-parking system meets federal safety standards. Click here to read this interpretation.

• When interpretation authority is not sufficient, Secretary Foxx further encouraged manufacturers to submit requests for use of the agencys exemption authority to allow the deployment of fully autonomous vehicles. Exemption authority allows NHTSA to enable the deployment of up to 2,500 vehicles for up to two years if the agency determines that an exemption would ease development of new safety features.

• DOT and NHTSA will develop the new tools necessary for this new era of vehicle safety and mobility, and will consider seeking new authorities when they are necessary to ensure that fully autonomous vehicles, including those designed without a human driver in mind, are deployable in large numbers when they are demonstrated to provide an equivalent or higher level of safety than is now available.

This information and the full report can be found here: @Transportation.gov

This sounds like great news for companies like Google who we’ve covered a story about driving on California Roads. Or Volvo who recently said they need more regulation from the Government in order to further Autonomous vehicle technology in this press release.