Cybersecurity, Standard Rules Among Priorities for Self-Driving Cars, Automakers Testify

It "was just the first step in our legislative process, as the committee looks to continue exploring the full potential of self-driving cars and their ability to enhance safety, mobility and convenience for drivers," Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, said in a statement to us. "Throughout the year, the committee will work with our colleagues in the Senate, industry leaders, and safety advocates to advance a number of bills that will prioritize safety and build consumer confidence in self-driving cars.” Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., on Monday announced a joint effort to explore and identify areas where legislation, which they plan to propose this year, can help advance the technology.

Asked by House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., about cyberthreats and how they may evolve, Rand Corp. Senior Information Scientist Nidhi Kalra said it's a concern because hacking can disrupt a transportation system. “Cybersecurity is not something that can sort of be shrink-wrapped on top of the vehicle because there’s so many parts that contribute to the ultimate vehicle, that it has to be baked in from the ground up," she said. Hacking isn't just for "fun and profit," because terrorists can use autonomous vehicles as potential bombs, she added. "I don’t want to overstate the risk at this time, but we need to think very broadly about cybersecurity not only as a hacking opportunity but also as a terrorism opportunity.”

Mike Ableson, General Motors vice president-global mobility strategy, said vehicles need to be designed with that threat in mind. He said GM has "gone deep into" self-driving Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles to make changes that enhance the security of the systems. Toyota Research Institute CEO Gill Pratt said an autonomous vehicle's safety technology needs to be self-sufficient and not depend on a wireless network to operate. He said information over the wireless network should be used to improve the efficiency of operations. Both executives also said their companies are part of the Automotive Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which was formed in 2015 to develop ways to prevent cyberattacks on vehicles.

Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., asked witnesses about their perspectives on the patchwork of state and local mandates. Laws need to be flexible, she said, but she's concerned about undermining safety and accountability standards. Anders Karrberg, Volvo vice president-government affairs, said he supports the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's guidelines (see 1609200039) released last year. The guidelines need to be more flexible, he said, but they aren't traditional rulemaking and would develop slowly. "It's something in between. It's not perfect but I think that's the way forward," he said. Kalra said federal regulations are needed for both testing methods and safety thresholds needed for the different levels of deployment of the vehicles. "Until those are in place, states really are on the forefront of balancing the competing needs associated with this technology," she said, adding the federal government can provide support to states to develop regulations that aren't contradictory and pave the way for federal regulations.

Pratt, saying Toyota wants "rigorous" standards, said the federal government should take the leading role in providing one standard for developing and deploying autonomous vehicles. In California, he said, companies like his are required to report a "disconnection rate" every time the car has a certain failure. He said that's not a bad idea, but the information becomes public "and it creates a perverse incentive ... for companies to try to make that figure look good because the public's watching. And that perverse incentive then causes the company to not try to test the difficult cases but test the easy cases to make the score look good." Joseph Okpaku, Lyft vice president-government relations, said some state proposals are infringing on federal safety standards, which is "dangerous.”

Rep. Mimi Walters, R-Calif., said the negative impact of state rules should be considered. In California, she said she spent a decade in the legislature and saw thousands of businesses and residents flee due to "over-regulation." She cited Uber leaving to test autonomous vehicles in Arizona after California made it "less hospitable" (see 1701300012 and 1702080062). She asked Okpaku about examples that affected Lyft testing. One California bill, he said, would limit testing to one part of the state, hampering the technology's development. "We’re not at the point yet where any of the legislation that we’re concerned about has actually been enacted, but we’ve seen enough proposed legislation all across the country," he said, "that, if enacted, it would unintentionally but definitely inhibit our ability to roll out and test and deploy.”

Representatives of the automakers said Congress and NHTSA can help speed up the technology's development by allowing more autonomous vehicles to be tested so more safety information is collected to determine performance. GM and Toyota said they’re taking a deliberative approach to create a higher-level autonomous vehicle requiring less human supervision, but couldn't give a timeline. Volvo's Karrberg said his company plans to offer an unsupervised vehicle -- known as SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Level 4 -- by 2021. A car at that level can operate in certain environments and under certain conditions but is below the level of a fully autonomous vehicle.