Mark R. Rosekind has taken the helm of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) at a critical juncture for the federal agency. Not only did he fill the role of NHTSA Administrator in the midst of the massive GM ignition-switch and Takata airbag recalls, but also at a time when technology is quickly transforming automotive.
The car industry is facing enormous changes due to innovations ranging from autonomous driving to vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and these will also have a profound influence on NHTSA’s main priority of ensuring vehicles are safe and reducing traffic deaths.
As a former NASA scientist and member of the National Transportation Safety Board, Rosekind is well versed in the effects technology will have in reshaping passenger vehicles in the years ahead and how to prepare NHTSA to deal with the disruptions that are just down the road.
Rosekind gave a glimpse of how NHTSA will handle this rapid pace of change and how technology can help the agency fulfill its focus on saving lives while delivering the keynote address at the second-annual Connected Car Pavilion produced by the C3 Group in Austin, Texas during SXSW last week.
Rosekind pointed out that safety technologies have already helped to reduce the tragic result of car collisions over the past 50 years.
“We have estimated that 613,501 lives have been saved since 1960 through dedicated safety technologies, from seat belts to collision warning to automated braking systems,” Rosekind said. “We have also recently determined through our research that in 94 percent of cases, the critical element in the chain of events before a crash is the human driver. Technology offers a huge potential in mitigating this statistic.”
Autonomous driving – and the path towards self driving cars through advanced driver assist systems such as forward-collision prevention and lane-keeping assist that are already on the market– arguably has the largest potential to prevent auto accidents and fatalities.
Telsa co-founder and CEO Elon Musk even went as far this week to suggest that “in the distant future, people may outlaw [human] driven cars because it’s too dangerous” once machines show that they are better at preventing roadway accidents.
While optimistic about the safety benefits of autonomous technology, Rosekind pointed out that more research is required to map out the regulatory as well as liability issues necessary to reach a fully self-driving future. “Further down the road, we look forward to the potential of fully-automated, self-driving vehicles,” he said. “This will require a very rigorous and careful approach to ensure safety.
“Before offering fully autonomous vehicles for sale to the general public, we have to realize that these vehicles don’t eliminate the potential for error; they shift the error from the driver to the vehicle,” Rosekind added.
To see the original story go to Forbes.com.
