Self-Driving Cars Coming to Sacramento
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Car Accident Lawyer. Sacramento’s city officials are hoping to bring self-driving cars to the city’s streets within the next year.
Perfect Testing Ground
According to a Sacramento’s Chief Innovation Officer, the city’s midtown streets are the perfect testing ground for the next generation of driverless cars. Officials expect to see cars in and around Sacramento driving themselves within the next year. The Department of Motor Vehicles DMV has been permitting self-driving cars to be tested on the road since 2014, with 42 current permit holders.
Safety Concerns
One of the biggest obstacles to self-driving car technology is the issue of safety. While industry leaders remain optimistic about the safety advantages an autonomous transportation network would promote, more testing is needed. Lawmakers hope that additional testing in the state capitol will help promote the development of regulatory framework to allow the industry to expand. Considering that driver error is estimated to cause nearly 90% of traffic accidents, self-driving cars may prove to be significantly safer than conventional automobiles.
New Regulations Proposed
In March of 2017, the DMV proposed new driverless testing and deployment regulations. Prior regulations have required a person to sit behind the wheel as a safety precaution. The DMV plans to issue new rules regulating testing on city roads and the public’s use of self-driving cars by the end of the year.
Accidents involving Autonomous Vehicles
There have been 13 reported accidents involving autonomous vehicles in California this year. Of those accidents, five occurred while the cars were being driven conventionally. All of the accidents were minor and occurred in the San Francisco Bay Area where many tech companies developing this technology are headquartered.
A Long Road Ahead
Self-Driving technology is still developing, and critics worry that difficulty in computer recognition of objects will require extensive testing to overcome. Another issue on the mind of cyber security experts is the vulnerability of a self-driving car being hacked. If officials can successfully bring autonomous vehicles to the city’s streets, Sacramento will be paving the way for autonomous vehicles around the country as this new technology becomes commonplace.
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Sacramento Car Accident Lawyer
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Car Accident Lawyer. If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident by a negligent driver, please contact me right away at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400 for free, friendly, and no obligation advice. I can also be reached online at www.AutoAccident.com.
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