U.S. Senate committee hearing looks at driverless cars

U.S. Senate committee hearing looks at driverless cars

When the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held a hearing last week on self-driving vehicles, senators said the cars held great potential but also heard concerns about cyberhacking.

As our cars become more connected – to the Internet, to wireless networks, with each other and with our infrastructure – are they at risk of catastrophic cyberattacks? asked Committee

Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.). Can some 14-year-old in Indonesia figure out how to do this and just shut your car downbecause everything is now wired up?

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) spoke of the potential of driverless cars to help to drive the tech and manufacturing sectors and benefit our economy. He also said the cars could be especially helpful to disabled people, citing a YouTube video of a blind man driving an autonomous vehicle.

Mitch Bainwol, president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, spoke to the panel of the obstacles to autonomous cars: consumer acceptance, product liability, connectivity and fleet mix concerns. Contradicting the positive results of the Cisco survey (above), Bainwol said the Alliances poll showed consumers are opposed to self-driving cars by a four-to-three margin.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland told the Senate panel that NHTSA has asked for $2 million for a new office on electronics and driving. With electronic systems assuming safety-critical roles in nearly all vehicle controls, we are facing the need to develop general requirements.