Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - August 2018 - 38

Smart Cities

Defanging Driverless Cars
A pioneering program gives everyday people the chance to ride in an automated vehicle on public roads.

by Stephen Baker

SAE

Through the early months of 2018, failures of
autonomous vehicles dominated the news. In March,
a self-driving car operated by Uber killed a pedestrian
in Tempe, Arizona. Weeks later, a Tesla customer's car,
running on its semi-autonomous autopilot mode,
crashed into a guardrail south of San Francisco, killing
the driver.
These tragedies fueled already-lingering doubts
about the coming generation of automated vehicles.
According to surveys by the American Automobile
Association, the percentage of Americans "too scared"
to ride in fully autonomous cars climbed nearly 16%
in the first four months of 2018, from 63% to 73%. At
the same time, the public was hearing steady reports
that autonomous vehicles (AVs) were poised to eliminate millions of jobs. Americans, it appeared, didn't
like what they were learning about the auto industry's
autonomy roadmap.
For city and state officials in Tampa, this trend in
public opinion threatened to undermine a promising
technology that could spur economic development,
cut pollution and commute times and enhance road

For the inaugural SAE Demo Day in Tampa, Florida, participants traveled on
a public freeway in a fully-autonomous (SAE Level 4) vehicle developed by
Perrone Robotics.

38 August 2018

safety. While recognizing that safety issues for AVs are
paramount-and needed to be addressed-they also
hoped the public in west Florida could appreciate the
technology's potential.
The answer, they decided: Give the general public
an up-close look at AVs, even a chance to ride in one.
"You have to get people to see it, to experience,
to get them into the cars," said State Sen. Jeff Brandes
(R-Pinellas).
Brandes collaborated with the TampaHillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) and
SAE International to organize a three-day event for
the public to test-ride an AV. Perrone Robotics, of
Corzet, Virginia, provided an SAE Level 4 automated
car for the demonstration; THEA arranged to close the
Lee Roy Selmon Expressway's reversible express lanes
between morning and evening rush hours. Amid a
vigorous publicity campaign for the event in the press,
TV and social media, the passenger slots quickly filled
and the waiting list ballooned to 180 names.
SAE concocted surveys for the test riders before
and after their experience with Perrone's self-driving
car. And THEA turned much of its headquarters into
an educational space, where participants enjoyed
"after-ride" chats with experts and other opportunities
to continue the experience.
"In order to truly realize the potential for these
vehicles, we have to build public knowledge about
how safe they are and what they do," said SAE
chief product officer Frank Menchaca. "We need to
develop a vocabulary nationwide for understanding
the safety of automated vehicles so that the manufacturers and government can work together to develop
this technology that has such potentially immense
benefit for society."
To develop smart policies for the next generation
of transportation, said Joe Waggoner, chief executive
of THEA, the region needs an engaged and informed
citizenry. "And self-driving cars," he predicts, "will be
here much sooner than many people think."

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Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - August 2018

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