Driverless cars may pose safety and cybersecurity risks

Claims that automated vehicles could avoid 90% of road deaths by eliminating human error have not been proven, according to a new report.

The report from the International Transport Forum also suggests that fully automated and connect vehicles are vulnerable to cybersecurity risks.

Shared responsibility between robot and human drivers could lead to more complex driving decisions, which could make driving less safe. In situations where humans take over control from robots, more crashes might occur among ‘average’ drivers who normally do not take risks.

Full automation may reduce the number of severe crashes significantly. Yet with partially automated systems, humans retain an advantage in many contexts. Overcoming this gap requires multiple sensors and connectivity with infrastructure.

Such fully automated and connected cars are vulnerable to cybersecurity risks, however.

“The avoidance of crashes should never depend on access to shared external communication channels alone,” according to the report. It recommends designing automated vehicles so that safety-critical systems are functionally independent and cannot fail in case of connectivity issues.

Automation makes it more urgent to adopt a safe system approach to road transport. A safe system organises all elements of road traffic in a way that when one safety mechanism fails, another steps in to prevent a crash, or at least serious injury. Applying this approach to automated driving means the traffic system will account for machine errors.

The report cautions against using safety performance to market competing automated vehicles. “The relative safety level of vehicles … should not be a competition issue. The regulatory framework should ensure maximum achievable road safety, guaranteed by industry, as a precondition of allowing these vehicles … to operate,” the report said.

Other recommendations include:

• Require automated vehicles to report safety-relevant data.
• Develop and use a staged testing regime for automated vehicles.
• Establish comprehensive cybersecurity principles for automated driving.
• Provide clear and targeted messaging of vehicle capabilities.
   

The report Safer Roads with Autonomous Vehicles? was initiated and supported by the Corporate Partnership Board of the International Transport Forum.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Sangoiri

Please follow us and share on Twitter and Facebook. You can also subscribe for FREE to our weekly newsletter and quarterly magazine.