Policy makers are still debating the level at which autonomous vehicles should be regulated.
While progress has been significant on the technical side, getting policy to catch up has been an understandably complex and incremental process. Policy makers are still debating the level at which autonomous vehicles should be regulated. What kinds of vehicles should be allowed on the road, and who is allowed to operate them? How should safety be tested, and by whom? How might different liability regimes shape the timely and safe adoption of autonomous vehicles, and what are the trade-offs? What are the implications of a patchwork of state-by-state laws and regulations, and what are the trade-offs in harmonizing these policies? To what extent should policy makers encourage the adoption of autonomous vehicles? For example, through smart-road infrastructure, dedicated highway lanes, manufacturer or consumer incentives? These are complex issues regarding the use of autonomous vehicles on public roads. At the same time, a form of autonomy that is already deployable now is “Level 4 autonomy,” defined as autonomy in some environments some of the time. The technology is here for autonomous vehicles that can drive in fair weather, on private ways, and at lower speeds.