Alabama Lawmakers Look Ahead To Driverless Cars

In parts of the country, some people are already sharing roads with driverless cars.

It’s exciting technology, but it raises a lot of questions. Questions that lawmakers like State Senator Tom Whatley are very interested in.

“We already have some of this technology going on in test tracks here in Alabama. Also, even though it’s years down the road coming, we need to anticipate the potential problems, potential impacts it could have on driver safety, on economics, commerce, banking, insurance, and on the budget,” said Sen. Whatley.

Senator Whatley was joined by other lawmakers on the joint legislative committee on self driving vehicles.

Leaders in the industry, like professors at Auburn University, presented their latest projects and their takes on what’s next.
Professor David Bevly says Auburn has been working on the tech for the last 15 years, already putting it to work in areas like agriculture.

“Maybe by 2020 to have some autopilot technology on the road for limited scenarios. You can imagine an on ramp to off ramp on the interstate where maybe it’ll handle the driving but they still want the driver engaged, so the driver should be monitoring, not sleeping,” said Bevly.

Very few states in the country have actually passed any laws about self driving cars, but many have looked into it.
One of the main reasons is safety.

Bevly and the other presenters hit on the fact that driving really is one of the most dangerous things we do, leading to 40 thousand roadway fatalities every year in the U.S.

“Driverless vehicles could go on and solve some of those problems and decrease some of those traffic fatalities. The driverless vehicles can also increase the abilities of people who are not licensed drivers, like older people, people with disabilities like blindness,” said Whatley.