While commenting on the recent crash that involved the Google self-driving car and a bus, US transport Secretary stated that it was not a surprise.
Anthony Foxx informed BBC that it is not possible to evade accidents and that the new technology that is still growing should not be confused with perfection.
No one got injured in crash but was the first time that a Google self-driven car was blamed for any collision.
The Secretary spoke from Austin, Texas where he was attending the South by Southwest Interactive festival.
He informed that 7 US cities- Columbus, Austin, Kansas, Denver, Portland, Pittsburh and San Francisco- were on the final completion stage on which they would be funded by the government for “smart” technologies.
He acknowledged that smart technologies had the potential of putting some people out of business.
He said that “Driverless technology presents a lot of potential for disruption on a number of fronts.”
“It’s now unclear to me exactly how that future unfolds.”
Relative comparisons
Secretary Foxx is the leader in the efforts to have US roads filled with self-driven cars. The Obama administration has set aside $4bn so as to meet that goal. Among other attempts are to standardize regulations that affect autonomous cars all the whole country.
While commenting on the February Google crash, Foxx said that “It’s not a surprise that at some point there would be a crash of any technology that’s on the road.”
He however, challenged that an observation should be made to see to it that the crashes that happened simultaneously were due to human behavior.
“I think the question here is not making a comparison between the automated car and perfection, I think it is a relative comparison to what we have now on the roads which is you and I, and our eyeballs, and our brains.”
It is expected that there would be a legal tussle over who takes the responsibility after a crash has happened. Should it be the passenger or the company behind the software running on the computer?
Foxx said that the he hoped the answer to the question would be provided to the industry and both states in the coming few months.
