Germany Wants Self-Driving Cars To Have Black Boxes

Given all of the work that’s being done on self-driving cars, it seems inevitable that in a few years we’ll have cars that can drive themselves without needing any help from us mere humans. However, there are significant legal and regulatory issues that need to be resolved before autonomous cars can take to the streets. Germany’s transport ministry has proposed new legislation which would require any cars with self-driving features to have a black box, similar to a flight data recorder that one finds on aircraft.

The legislation proposes that car manufacturers install data recorders in cars equipped with such features so that they can track when the self-driving feature is activated and when the vehicle is being controlled manually. The data recorders will also be able to show if a driver took control of the self-driving car when instructed by the system to do so.

This law will make it mandatory for drivers to remain behind the wheel at all times even when a self-driving system is activated, they can’t just hop in the back to take a nap, but doesn’t make it mandatory for them to pay attention to traffic on concentrate on the road ahead.

Tesla is one manufacturer that already keeps logs of its Autopilot semi-autonomous driving system, the logs were what enabled the company to confirm that Autopilot wasn’t engaged in a recent Model X crash that it was initially blamed for.

This legislation has to be approved by other ministries before it’s voted on and only then will it become law so it could take some before this law is passed, or not passed, depending upon how others in the legislative process view it.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Transportation
Tags: Autopilot, Self-Driving Cars, Tesla