Automated vehicles will bring new and perhaps unanticipated traffic safety issues to the states. The Governors Highway Safety Assocation’s (GHSA) Preparing for Automated Vehicles: Traffic Safety Issues for States report outlines these issues and discusses how law enforcement and State Highway Safety Offices (SHSOs) should prepare for them.
Funded by State Farm, the report analyzes market trends and finds that most autonomous vehicles (AVs) for the foreseeable future will share driving responsibility with humans, and are likely do so for many decades. There will continue to be crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving AVs, especially during this time when AVs share the road with vehicles driven by humans.
Former senior NHTSA official Dr. Jim Hedlund authored the report, which was developed with input from an advisory panel of experts.
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.
“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.”