Phil & Junko on AV Safety

This week Phil & Junko talk about what it means for Autonomous Vehicle to be safe enough.At a high level, in addition to net statistical safety, acceptable safety also requires an absence of risk hot spots. It’s not about perfection; it’s about acceptably safe:As safe as a human driver on a net statistical basis (accounting for which car, which driver, which road, etc.)Avoiding reckless drivingAvoiding shifting risk onto vulnerable populationsAbsence of unreasonable risk (AUR)Standards conformanceAvoiding negative externalities (e.g., not blocking fire trucks)Accountability for breaking road rulesMeeting all stakeholder safety requirementsA single-metric approach does not work due to multiple stakeholder concerns. A multi-constraint satisfaction approach is the way to go. The bottom line: acceptable safety is meeting the threshold requirements of all your stakeholders.This episode is a follow-on to Phil’s written piece on How Safe Is Really “Safe Enough” for Autonomous Vehicles?

In this episode we talk with Kristin Poland, Deputy Director, Office of Highway Safety, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).We cover safety issues with Level 2 supervised automation vehicles in general. The NTSB’s recent findings on a pair of Ford BlueCruise crashes motivate a discussion that covers lidar, false alarms, performance limitations, alcohol impairment, telematics, automated emergency braking (AEB), driver monitoring, system integration issues, and the role that NTSB plays in improving transportation safety.This episode is a follow-on to Phil’s written piece on Level 2 Automated Vehicle Safety.

Mr. Otto Nobetter, meet Mr. Jay WalkerHistorian Peter Norton joins Phil & Junko in a discussion of the surprisingly rich history of the slogan "Safety First."We discuss the history of multiple cycles of adoption and repudiation of the concept of Safety First in industrial and automotive safety. We also cover cautionary tales from the history of safety regulations in other industries. Perhaps it is time for the autonomous vehicle industry to re-think its Safety First messaging.Substack episode info: https://open.substack.com/pub/avsafety/p/podcast-the-evolution-of-safety-first

Phil & Junko on AV Safety / S1 ep01Accountability of Remote Assistants