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Previous discussions of earlier versions of the bill: in March: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3688267 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3688267, and in

by yonran 14y ago

Previous discussions of earlier versions of the bill: in March: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3688267 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3688267, and in May: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4010297 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4010297 Current bill text: http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/sen/sb_1251-1300/sb_1298_bill_20120824_amended_asm_v93.html http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/sen/sb_1251-1300/sb_129... What seems to have changed since May: - The California DMV will set safety rules before 2015 instead of waiting for NHTSA to allow production use, - The manufacturer must apply to the DMV before production use. - Cars must record sensor data for 30s before every collision. What I don’t like about the bill is that it requires an operator to be able to take manual control of the vehicle at any time. I’d imagine that as autonomous vehicles develop in the coming years, this restriction will have to be removed.

columbo 14y ago
> What I don’t like about the bill is that it requires an operator to be able to take manual control of the vehicle at any time. I'd feel very strange being in a car without a manual override of some sort. Maybe in 10 years and only if the vast majority of cars are self driven it will be a different story. I can't imagine trying to drive through Chicago hoping that my little robot driver is aware of the two tow-trucks weaving through traffic behind me at 90mph.
- abruzzi 14y ago
  10 years seems optimistic to me. If autonomous vehicles take off, I doubt they'll hit majority in less than 30 years, 50 more likely. These probably won't even be purchasable for 10 years.
tommi 14y ago
The manual control at any time is actually a feature I want to have. It doesn't have to be the current style steering wheel, stick and pedals but maybe something else like a joystick.
cm127 14y ago
I think I understand your complaint. If people can take control, i.e. take responsibility, then it's imperative to show evidence they were in control if something were to go wrong. This will always be tricky because even Toyota a couple of years ago had trouble defending against alleged bugs that turned out to be completely untrue.
- nitrogen 14y ago
  This will always be tricky because even Toyota a couple of years ago had trouble defending against alleged bugs that turned out to be completely untrue. The silly conspiracy theorist in me wonders if the excessive media focus on Toyota had anything to do with the government's Detroit bailout. Probably not, but if I were writing a conspiracy novel, it'd be an easy plot point to add.
GFischer 14y ago
When horseless carriages first became legal, the legal requirement called for "a man with a red flag to walk in front of any self-propelled vehicle on a public road at no more than 4mph". http://www.datchethistory.org.uk/Link%20Articles/Ellis/evelyn_ellis.htm http://www.datchethistory.org.uk/Link%20Articles/Ellis/evely... In the future, if manual override becomes undesirable or unneeded, it will probably be repealed. Actually, I'm surprised by this many steps forward so soon (I was a bit cynical of them ever being approved)

by yonran 14y ago

columbo 14y ago

> What I don’t like about the bill is that it requires an operator to be able to take manual control of the vehicle at any time. I'd feel very strange being in a car without a manual override of some sort. Maybe in 10 years and only if the vast majority of cars are self driven it will be a different story. I can't imagine trying to drive through Chicago hoping that my little robot driver is aware of the two tow-trucks weaving through traffic behind me at 90mph.

abruzzi 14y ago
10 years seems optimistic to me. If autonomous vehicles take off, I doubt they'll hit majority in less than 30 years, 50 more likely. These probably won't even be purchasable for 10 years.

tommi 14y ago

The manual control at any time is actually a feature I want to have. It doesn't have to be the current style steering wheel, stick and pedals but maybe something else like a joystick.

cm127 14y ago

I think I understand your complaint. If people can take control, i.e. take responsibility, then it's imperative to show evidence they were in control if something were to go wrong. This will always be tricky because even Toyota a couple of years ago had trouble defending against alleged bugs that turned out to be completely untrue.

nitrogen 14y ago
This will always be tricky because even Toyota a couple of years ago had trouble defending against alleged bugs that turned out to be completely untrue. The silly conspiracy theorist in me wonders if the excessive media focus on Toyota had anything to do with the government's Detroit bailout. Probably not, but if I were writing a conspiracy novel, it'd be an easy plot point to add.

GFischer 14y ago

When horseless carriages first became legal, the legal requirement called for "a man with a red flag to walk in front of any self-propelled vehicle on a public road at no more than 4mph". http://www.datchethistory.org.uk/Link%20Articles/Ellis/evelyn_ellis.htm http://www.datchethistory.org.uk/Link%20Articles/Ellis/evely... In the future, if manual override becomes undesirable or unneeded, it will probably be repealed. Actually, I'm surprised by this many steps forward so soon (I was a bit cynical of them ever being approved)