Building on previous recommendations for automated vehicle implementation, the U.S. Department of Transportation this week released the third version of its “Preparing for the Future of Transportation: Automated Vehicles” guidance.
These wholly voluntary guidelines and policy considerations are meant to help various industry and governmental stakeholders navigate a time of great change in transportation. They advocate the safe development of automated vehicle technology, but also seek to give them a process of cooperative growth — and a safe one, at that.
“The safe integration of automated vehicle technology into our transportation system will increase productivity, facilitate freight movement and create new types of jobs,” Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said.
The new guidance strengthens the department’s efforts at preserving transportation safety application’s ability to function in a 5.9 GHz spectrum. They also support the development of automation-related standards by organizations and associations — rather than governmental — to advance technological integration. Lastly, these guidelines establish that the DOT will re-envision the very definitions of driver and operator, expanding them to include not just humans, but also potentially automated systems.
A number of rulemakings and comment periods are slated to follow the release of the guidance.