Future Hurdles

• Author: Nathan Baker
• Pages: 168-175

168

chapter 8

FUTURE HURDLES

The impact of autonomous vehicles will stretch beyond civil and criminal

law, reaching into all aspects of society. In North America, where driving

is a cornerstone activity, change to that activity changes society. It will

take signif‌icant legislation to properly address the issues considered in

earlier chapters.

Automated vehicles rely on predictable conditions. They struggle

to appreciate poor decision making by human drivers and expect other

vehicles to act and react predictably. With improvements over time, auto-

mated systems will be better able to appreciate the situations in which

they may f‌ind themselves.

One issue that will af‌fect autonomous vehicles will be their reliance

on their sensors. Vehicles that rely on sensing technology may be thwarted

by inclement weather. Snow in particular is an enemy to the automated

vehicle. It can blind optical sensors, and it can confound radar, light detec-

tion and ranging (LiDAR), and sonar systems. Snow changes the vehicle’s

grip on the road and necessitates a change in the method of driving. It

blocks the ability to see road markings and confuses distances between

vehicles. This is a hurdle to be overcome through careful design—it is not

an absolute bar. Human drivers already operate their vehicles in less than

ideal situations. Adaptability to allow the system to rely on the data that