Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Con

Self-Driving Cars Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Con

While projections for the development of self-driving vehicles remains years out, advanced driver assistance systems that offer self semi-autonomous driving capabilities are entering the marketplace today. Advanced driver assistance systems are crash avoidance technologies that can protect drivers, reduce crashes, and enhance the convenience of driving. Forward collision warning, blind spot detection, and lane departure warnings are examples of advanced driver assistance systems. These systems help drivers make safer decisions on the road by providing real-time information about surrounding roadway activity. The driver can receive this information through audible tones, steering wheel vibrations, or small flashing lights on side mirrors alerting the driver of potential safety hazards on the road. Increasingly, advanced driver assistance systems now entering the market are capable of taking a more active role in the driving task. Innovative systems such as automatic emergency braking and lane departure prevention can temporarily take control over parts of the vehicle's critical safety functions such as braking or steering. This can occur by the system either applying the brakes without input from the driver or steering the vehicle back into marked lanes following unintended drifting. Through technological advances by manufacturers and equipment suppliers, basic driver assistance systems are taking on more advanced capabilities that assume greater control of the vehicle's critical safety functions throughout a driving trip. The progression of these technologies is incrementally removing the human driver from the driving task and paving the way to full autonomy.