A truly autonomous driving future is still years away but this French-based mobility company decided to endanger the lives of kids in Florida, anyways.
The lack of oversight, the plain disregard for rules, and the slowness which the NHTSA to act is all further proof that we, as humans, aren’t ready for an autonomous vehicle feature, yet. As per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in their press release they put out earlier this week (Oct. 22,2018) they’re finally putting the kibosh on an illegally operating autonomous bus pilot program that somehow passed many stages of development without the NHTSA noticing in the first place.
Babcock Ranch, a highly experimental planned community in Florida known for its innovative and unconventional infrastructure, is one of many smart cities globally that attracts new and burgeoning technologies that want to try out their wares on an already tech-savvy community.
Transdev, the aforementioned mobility company, partnered with the local schools in Babcock Ranch to try out their autonomous school bus, a twelve-seater electric vehicle that runs on a fixed route presumably determined by GPS and requires no input from an actual operator. Although this electric school-bus currently operates at just 12 MPH, speeds of 30 MPH are possible when “the proper infrastructure is in place.”
But, as the NHTSA and other outlets are pointing out, their vehicle is not in compliance with NHTSA rules for autonomous vehicles and is in direct violation of the terms of Transdev’s approved test project. The test project, as the name, was supposed to be just a test with no actual children used.
Transdev requested permission to use the shuttle for a specific demonstration project, not as a school bus. Transdev failed to disclose or receive approval for this use. School buses are subject to rigorous Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards that take into account their unique purpose of transporting children, a vulnerable population.
What’s even more shocking is that parents actually allowed their kids to board this vehicle which has me more concerned and totally not surprised at how suggestible people can be.
Granted, there was an operator still on board but “what ifs” start to play out like, “What if he couldn’t stop the vehicle from operating?”, “What if the vehicle couldn’t be remotely shut-off” and, “What if someone could remotely hack the test vehicle and send this autonomous school bus off its intended path.”
There are so many variables at play here and all parties involved are to blame: Transdev for slinging out this tech too soon, the NHTSA for taking so long, and parents not questioning this brand new tech in light of all the news surrounding autonomous vehicles.
Thankfully, no one was hurt while testing.
Source: NHTSA
