Meet the Regulators Trying to Make Sure Self-Driving Cars Are Safe

This week, the California Department of Motor Vehicles released its final regulations for the testing of autonomous vehicles on the roads of the state. They create a process for companies like Google, Nissan, Mercedes Benz, and the rest of the automakers to test out cars that can drive themselves under certain circumstances.  By the end of the year, the DMV will issue an even more important set of regulations that will govern how the public can operate these cars.  This is not an easy task, nor one that the regulators asked for. When the California legislature passed Senate Bill 1298 (Vehicle Code Section 38750), they tasked the agency with creating rules that would both encourage the development of autonomous vehicles while protecting the public. " The State of California, which presently does not prohibit or specifically regulate the operation of autonomous vehicles, desires to encourage the current and future development, testing, and operation of autonomous vehicles on the public roads of the state," the bill reads. "The state seeks to avoid interrupting these activities while at the same time creating appropriate rules intended to ensure that the testing and operation of autonomous vehicles in the state are conducted in a safe manner." Which sounds reasonable. But how do you create "appropriate rules" that ensure safety without "interrupting" or slowing the development of the technology? There isn't official federal guidance that the state can lean on. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released a "preliminary" policy statement , but won't have real regulations ready for years.  In most other safety issues, the manufacturers certify that their goods meet the safety regulations set by NHTSA (or as people say it, "Nitsa"). The state of California (or any other) doesn't get involved.  California's DMV has it particularly tough. The state has taken the regulatory lead in so many different areas through the years, by dint of its large population and innovative bureaucrats like Art Rosenfeld in energy efficiency , so other states are looking to California. And, of course, Google and many car makers are conducting a big chunk of their research in and around Silicon Valley. So the internal pressure is high, the external pressure is high, and... They have to figure out how to test the safe functioning of complex artificial intelligence systems commanding 2,000 pound vehicles that already kill 32,000 people under human control ! Given that self-driving cars have the medium-term potential to create all kinds of changes in the way that Americans, at least, move around, the three people at the DMV leaving the charge are some of the most important people shaping our collective future.  Inside a Nissan autonomous vehicle while testing (Nissan). Regulators, Mount Up Within the DMV, there are two co-sponsors of the autonomous regulation project: Bernard Soriano, deputy director, and Stephanie Dougherty, chief of strategic planning. The third member of the triumvirate is Brian Soublet, assistant chief counsel at the DMV.  I was able to speak with Soriano and Soublet at length this week, and they walked me through how the DMV is approaching this task. "We're kind of in a bind because every vehicle that's on the roadway has to meet Federal motor vehicle safety standards," Soriano said. But there are no Federal regulations or Federal standards for autonomous technologies. "NITSA is the one who develops the regulations for safety devices on vehicles, but—they admit this—they are years away, years away , from developing regulations for autonomous vehicles." "So there is also a push at the state level—various states—to come up with regulations because the companies want to come out with the products," Soriano said. "If there are no federal regulations, they are turning to the states, asking, 'What are the states going to allow?' So California is one of a handful states that have passed legislation. We do regulations a lot, but we've never done regulations with regard to safety devices on vehicles." So not only are they dealing with the novel problems of autonomous vehicles, but they've had to come up with solutions in an area that they aren't used to regulating.  "This is the first time a state has had to license the testing of specific technology. Usually manufacturers just test their stuff and the state isn't involved," Soublet said. "So, when this bill got passed, it became, 'How do we do this—and how do we do this in less than two years?'" How to Figure Out How to Regulate Autonomous Vehicles in Two Years or Less The DMV put together a steering committee composed of representatives from other state agencies like the California Highway Patrol, Caltrans, the California State Transportation Agency, the Department of Insurance, and finally the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Notably, their first liaison when they formed the committee was the NHTSA's former deputy administrator, Ron Medford. He's now Google's s afety director for the Self- Driving Car Program. 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