Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - November 2021 - 2

Editorial
NHTSA signals sharper scrutiny of
automated driving
Regardless of political persuasion, I
think many of us believe government
regulation comes best in moderation.
The debate about the proper approach
to autonomous-vehicle (AV) regulation
seemed to have reached a zenith
at CES 2020, when the U.S. Dept. of
Transportation, under Secretary Elaine
Chao, announced its " AV 4.0 " initiative.
It reinforced the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration's (NHTSA) intent
to effectively stand aside to allow AV
development to proceed with safety-related
and other standards established on
a " voluntary " basis.
Safety advocates and AV doubters
grumbled. But regulating something as
fast-moving as AV development and
technology at the time seemed like a
recipe for discontent. So, NHTSA left
it alone. Some might say the agency
" stuck its head in the sand. "
But that was the previous,
hands-off NHTSA. The current NHTSA,
under Transportation Secretary Pete
Buttigieg, is signaling it's ready to weigh
in on assisted- and automated-driving
development with more active oversight.
In October just before this writing,
NHTSA - already investigating Tesla for
its various Autopilot issues - publicly
questioned the most boundary-pushing
of automated-driving system developers
as to why Tesla hadn't issued a recall for
Autopilot, in light of a safety-related
over-the-air (OTA) software update.
Then, some interpreted NHTSA to
be portending wider regulatory ambitions
when it confirmed its intent to
appoint Mary " Missy " Cummings as a
senior safety advisor - a position the
agency described as " temporary assignment, "
Reuters reported. Cummings, a
well-known voice of science in the AV and
robotics disciplines, is a professor in the
departments of Electrical and Computer
Engineering and Mechanical Engineering
and Materials Science at Duke University.
She also directs the school's Humans and
Autonomy Laboratory and Duke Robotics
and holds a Ph.D in systems engineering.
This news was incendiary for Tesla
CEO Elon Musk and the brand's ardent
supporters. Cummings has in the past
publicly denounced Tesla's approach to
driving automation development. In a
2019 Twitter post, for one example, she
called Tesla's Autopilot system unsafe
and unreliable, suggesting NHTSA
should require Tesla to " turn it off. "
Cummings also until recently served
on the board of directors at sensor
supplier Veoneer, which is developing
lidar for advanced driver-assistance
systems (ADAS) and high-level vehicle
automation. As it happens, lidar is a
sensor technology for which Musk has
little regard and has so far refused to
consider for Autopilot.
Philip Koopman, associate professor
of electrical and computer engineering at
Carnegie Mellon University and a noted
expert on AV operation and safety, didn't
seem distracted by the drama. " Suffice it
to say that Missy Cummings is the best
thing that could happen to strengthen
the 'S' in NHTSA, " he tweeted.
It's safe to say Cummings knows
a lot more about the nitty-gritty of
driving automation than the workaday
senator or policy wonk on Capitol Hill.
Whether her NHTSA appointment is
intended to further turn up the wick on
Tesla seems immaterial. Although a new
federal administration is in charge, the
quandary about AV regulation hasn't
changed. If we're going to have regulation,
I'd prefer the regulators to be
experts. Missy Cummings qualifies.
Bill Visnic, Editorial Director
EDITORIAL
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2 November 2021
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE ENGINEERING
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - November 2021

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