Other methods besides test drives needed to test driverless cars

Other methods besides test drives needed to test driverless cars

Autonomous vehicles would have to be driven hundreds of millions of miles and, under some scenarios, hundreds of billions of miles to clearly demonstrate their safety, according to a new Rand report.

That doesnêt mean the cars will never be shown to be safe. It just means that other testing methods must be developed to supplement on-the-road drive tests. Some alternative methods might include accelerated testing, virtual testing and simulators, mathematical modeling, scenario testing and pilot studies.

Researchers caution that it may not be possible to establish with certainty the reliablity of autonomous vehicles before making them available for public use. Along with creating new testing methods, they said, it is critical to develop regulations and policies that can evolve with the technology.