Engaging with Disengagement

How will traffic laws change as we slowly enter the autonomous vehicle era, and in general, the AI-driven 21st century?

Engaging with Disengagement

Preview:

Disengagement is a situation when the vehicle returns to manual control or the driver feels the need to take back the wheel from the AV decision system.

I came across this news article a while ago about a man dozing off at the wheel after switching his Tesla to autonomous mode, and being criminally charged soon after because the vehicle was speeding unbeknownst to him. A quick search revealed several such reports on drivers being charged for unlawful practices in semi-autonomous vehicles.

This got me thinking: how will traffic laws change as we slowly enter the autonomous vehicle era, and in general, the AI-driven 21st century? Most importantly, this brings up the question of whom to blame when dealing with adverse human-robot interactions. These aren’t new questions – only questions to which new perspectives can continually be added until a final course of action is decided. While I actively try to avoid the philosophical and ethical underpinnings of the matter, I will cover the current progress in autonomous vehicle technology, trends and limitations of today’s autonomous vehicle policy, and possible directions to better facilitate the transition to autonomous vehicles around the globe.