Archive: Safety
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By The Numbers: Policing for Safety or Traffic Policing as Pretext?
Ellen Partridge is the Senior Advisor, Mobility Innovation at Equiticity as well as the Senior Policy Advisor at the Shared-Use Mobility Center. “Half of all citizen-police interactions, more than 40% of all drug arrests, and over 30% of police…An Uncertain Framework: Privacy and Data Security Regulation Advances Long After Transportation Technology
It’s time to be honest with ourselves: a lot of us love the convenience of facial recognition software (FRS) especially when it comes to unlocking our cell phones. There is officially no reason to get Cheeto dust on your screen while you Instagram stalk your former high school classmates before…Deep In the Weeds of the Levels of Automation Lurks an Ambiguous Minimal Risk Condition
Are you familiar with SAE J3016, the recommended practice that defines, among many other terms, the widely (mis)cited levels of driving automation? You can be! You could read one of the many purported (and often erroneous) summaries of it. You could read my short gloss on it. Or you could read…Can Facial Recognition Software Within Transportation Technology Combat Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking?
This blog post is the second in a series about facial recognition software in various forms of public and private means of transportation, as well as the greater public policy concerns of facial recognition tools. More posts about the relationship between transportation technology, FRS, and modern slavery will follow.Tesla, Mode Confusion, and the Lack of ADAS Regulation
Last week I wrote about how a recent crash in Texas is illustrative of a serious issue with Tesla’s Autopilot feature. As a refresher, Autopilot is an advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS), meaning it can take over a number of driving tasks and help protect drivers, but a human is supposed…A Texas Crash Highlights Issues With Tesla’s Autopilot
Earlier this month, two Texas men died when the Tesla Model S they were traveling in crashed into a tree. However, just what led to the crash remains a point of contention between authorities and Tesla itself. The police have said that one passenger was found in the…Who Gets to Operate on Herbie? Right to Repair Legislation in the Context of Automated Vehicles
You bought it, you own it, but do you have the right to repair it? As right-to-repair remains a hot topic in the context of consumer electronics such as smartphones, one must consider the ramifications it may have for the automated vehicle (“AV”) industry. As the backdrop for one of the first legislative victories for right-to-repair, the automobile industry has continued to push for the expansion of right-to-repair to cover increased access to telematics and exceptions to proprietary software controls. However, as we revisit the issue for more highly connected and automated vehicles, it is important to assess the unique considerations of the AV sector before we can transpose previously learned lessons into a new, nearly unpredictable context. As such, this article examines a possible framework that addresses the technical and privacy concerns that uniquely arise when applying right-to-repair legislation to AVs. By attempting to predict on how previously learned lessons may influence action going forward, this article hopes to influence the right-to-repair discourse that will arise between manufacturers, consumers, and independent repair technicians for AVs.Road Safety and Society – Environmental Considerations
Last week, the United States declined to sign the “Stockholm Declaration,” an international agreement to set targets for reducing road fatalities. The reason given for not signing the declaration was the U.S.’s objection to items within the document that referenced climate change, equity, gender equality, and other issues.Divergence in Capabilities, Distracted Driving, and Derelict Governance
The California DMV recently released several 2019 reports from companies piloting self-driving vehicles in California. Under state law, all companies actively testing autonomous vehicles on California public roads must disclose the number of miles driven and how often human drivers were required to retake control from the autonomous vehicle.Smart Cars, Safety and Affordability: A Chicken and Egg Problem
Cars are getting smarter and safer. And yet this new breed of automobile remains inaccessible to large parts of the consumer base due to high costs. Some of these costs are a natural result of technological advancements in the automobile industry. Others however may be a product of inefficient market…