[nfb-talk] FW: Article from New York Times National Desk 2011 05 11

[Ray Foret Jr]

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On May 11, 2011, at 7:16 AM, Michael Bullis wrote:

> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NFB-NEWSLINE Online [mailto:nfbnewsline at nfb.org] 
> Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 7:42 AM
> To: Mike Bullis
> Subject: Article from New York Times National Desk 2011 05 11
> 
> Google Lobbies Nevada To Allow Driverless Cars. By JOHN MARKOFF. Google, a
> pioneer of self-driving cars, is quietly lobbying for legislation that would
> make Nevada the first state where they could be legally operated on public
> roads. 
> 
> And yes, the proposed legislation would include an exemption from the ban on
> distracted driving to allow occupants to send text messages while sitting
> behind the wheel. 
> 
> The two bills, which have received little attention outside Nevada's
> Capitol, are being introduced less than a year after the giant search engine
> company acknowledged that it was developing cars that could be safely driven
> without human intervention. 
> 
> Last year, in response to a reporter's query about its then-secret research
> and development program, Google said it had test-driven robotic hybrid
> vehicles more than 140,000 miles on California roads -- including Highway 1
> between Los Angeles and San Francisco. 
> 
> More than 1,000 miles had been driven entirely autonomously at that point;
> one of the company's engineers was testing some of the car's autonomous
> features on his 50-mile commute from Berkeley to Google's headquarters in
> Mountain View. 
> 
> At the time, Google gave little indication what its commercial intent might
> be. The company confirmed on Tuesday that it has lobbied on behalf of the
> legislation, though executives declined to say why they want the robotic
> cars' maiden state to be Nevada. Jay Nancarrow, a company spokesman, said
> the project was still very much in the testing phase. 
> 
> Google hired David Goldwater, a lobbyist based in Las Vegas, to promote the
> two measures, which are expected to come to a vote before the Legislature's
> session ends in June. One is an amendment to an electric-vehicle bill
> providing for the licensing and testing of autonomous vehicles, and the
> other is the exemption that would permit texting. 
> 
> In testimony before the State Assembly on April 7, Mr. Goldwater argued that
> the autonomous technology would be safer than human drivers, offer more
> fuel-efficient cars and promote economic development. 
> 
> Although safety systems based on artificial intelligence are rapidly making
> their way into today's cars, completely autonomous systems raise thorny
> questions about safety and liability. 
> 
> Policy makers and regulators have warned that the technology is now
> advancing so quickly that it is in danger of outstripping existing law, some
> of which dates back to the era of horse-drawn carriages. New laws will be
> required, they argue, if autonomous vehicles are to become a reality. 
> 
> Policy analysts say Nevada is the first state to consider the commercial
> deployment of a generation of vehicles that may park themselves, perform
> automatic deliveries or even act as automated taxis on the Las Vegas casino
> strip. 
> 
> In some respects this is a great template and a great model,' said Ryan
> Calo, a legal scholar at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law
> School. It recognizes a need to create a process to test these vehicles and
> set aside an area of Nevada where testing can take place. 
> 
> Google's fleet of six autonomous Toyota Priuses and an Audi TT are easily
> identifiable by a distinctive laser range finder mounted on the roof. The
> cars also have a variety of radar and camera sensors and a trunkful of
> computer equipment. 
> 
> In the testing program, each vehicle is overseen by a driver and a second
> Google employee who monitors the equipment from the passenger seat. Because
> of the human oversight, the company has avoided legal action against
> reckless -- or, in this case, driverless -- driving. 
> 
> The project is being guided by the artificial-intelligence researcher
> Sebastian Thrun, who as a Stanford professor in 2005 led a team of students
> and engineers that designed the first winning entry in an autonomous vehicle
> contest organized by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects
> Agency. 
> 
> Since then, Dr. Thrun has focused more of his activities at Google, giving
> up tenure at Stanford and hiring a growing array of experts to help with the
> development project. 
> 
> In frequent public statements, he has said robotic vehicles would increase
> energy efficiency while reducing road injuries and deaths. And he has called
> for sophisticated systems for car sharing that, he says, could cut the
> number of cars in the United States in half. 
> 
> What if I could take out my phone and say, 'Zipcar, come here,' ' he asked
> an industry conference last year, 'and a moment later the Zipcar came around
> the corner? 
> 
> Google's autonomous vehicle ambitions hint at an emerging vehicle-industrial
> complex in Silicon Valley. Mercedes, Volkswagen and other carmakers have
> laboratories in the region, I.B.M. has a battery development initiative, and
> the Nummi plant in Fremont, once a joint venture of General Motors and
> Toyota, has been reopened by Tesla. 
> 
> PHOTOS: Google has been quietly testing autonomous cars in California. The
> cars, hybrids, have a laser range finder on the roof, as well as radar and
> camera sensors and more equipment in the trunk. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY RAMIN
> RAHIMIAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)  . 
> 
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> The NFB-NEWSLINER Team.
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