James Bond, sitting in the night train, is having dinner with Vesper Lynd. "Wait a minute, you're saying self-driving cars are not safer than human drivers?". B

James Bond, sitting in the night train, is having dinner with Vesper Lynd. "Wait a minute, you're saying self-driving cars are not safer than human drivers?". Bemused, James takes a sip of Bordeaux, and quips "You've noticed?". I am a signalling engineer, with experience in design and delivery of autonomous trains (really autonomous, no driver, no nothing). Seriously, the conclusion makes me want to scream: > Shouldn’t ADS developers be required to prove an ADS is at least as safe as a human driver for a specific ODD before allowing it out onto public roads? To deliver an ADS thou shall: 1/ Identify the standards you are going to comply to (and I am talking about real standards, like EN 50126, SMS compliant with AS9100, not a Waymo brochure) 2/ Define your safety objectives (hint: for an ADS, it's going to be way way waaaaaay higher than human error rate). You don't self-define these. You need to talk to the safety authorities of the area were you intend to circulate. 3/ Build a safety case explaining how you achieve credibly these objectives (spoiler: testing will not be enough) 4/ Have your case examined by an independant safety assessor, accredited by a relevant national or trans-national authority 5/ Put your ego on a shelf. Otherwise, thou shall kill people. Simple. But it seems the automotive industry is ready to go to any length to avoid going through the concept of an independant safety assessor. EDIT: Bullet points syntax