Despite popular belief, almost every driverless vehicle deployment includes at least one operator in the vehicle. For example, Uber’s test vehicles will have “two employees in each autonomous vehicle” according to this article. Similarly, Lyft and Aptiv have a self-driving program in Las Vegas and will have “a trained operator in each car” as reported in this article. Ford is also testing vehicles in Miami with “human back up drivers” (see link here). Even Waymo, who initially removed safety drivers from their driverless vehicles, decided to “put safety drivers back behind the wheels” and add “co-drivers” after an accident (see link here). This is the case for almost every driverless vehicle deployment worldwide.
The main reason for safety drivers is safety. These drivers are trained to take control of the vehicle if necessary, ensuring passenger comfort and adhering to regulatory requirements in various states. This is also supported by information about GM’s intensive training program for safety drivers outlined here. Furthermore, manufacturers requiring two safety drivers have stated they do so for the oversight of the first driver and data recording purposes. Ultimately, the removal of human operators poses one of the biggest challenges as driverless technology continues to advance.
It is evident that fully autonomous vehicles operating without human operators are still a few years away from widespread implementation. Do you agree with this assessment?
