Op-Ed: The need for federal policies and legislation to introduce autonomous vehicles and electric vehicles on the road

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With advanced transportation technologies at a fast, such as autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, and electric scooters, relevant bills and policies are essential before these new travel modes can run on roads (Kester et al., 2018; Fagnant & Kockelman, 2015). Although discussions on autonomous and electric vehicles before 2000 might be mostly based on technology development rather than the need for related laws and policies, the issue of autonomous and electric vehicles has been discussed constantly (Krogh & Thorpe, 1986; Kanayama & Hartman, 1990). This is because these new technologies seem to have many advantages in terms of solving economic, environmental and traffic problems (Tomita, 2017).
In the case of autonomous vehicles, reasonable driving can reduce traffic jams and help people use the vehicles as a means of traveling rather than owning them following the current trend, the sharing economy (Fagnant & Kockelman, 2014; Fagnant & Kockelman, 2015). Fagnant & Kockelman (2015) also insist that autonomous vehicles will enhance the safety of the roads, however, in this regard, I think there are still many things to be considered. For example, a number of simulations will be needed about what is the safest decision before an unexpected event occurs on the road while driving. Before these simulations, it may need sufficient discussions about what is the safety and technology (the system or program which drives the car) should save whom first in an emergency situation. However, I think that this issue may be solved if agreements about the safety issue are reached among state governments.
In addition, electric cars may be a major alternative to the problem of atmospheric conditions, as many countries in the world make efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions (Kester et al., 2018; UN SDGs[1]) (Figure 1). However, an electric car is not completely eco-friendly. Over forty percent of electricity is produced from the coal fuel, which has a greater impact on air pollution than motor vehicles running on gas (City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, 2009). Nevertheless, there might be hope for electric cars if we can produce most electricity used for driving them in environmentally friendly ways such as hydroelectricity and wind power (City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, 2009). Therefore, I think that there should be sufficient discussions about what eco-friendly is and what safety is, rather than the technology advance itself.

Figure 1 UN SDGs: Goal 11 & 13

Source: UN Sustainable Goals (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/)

Although conducting policy research and legislation on the new transportation mode tends to follow the rapidly advancing technology, it may not be said that research on policies for the new transportation mode is far behind (Kester et al., 2018). In this regard, the five Nordic countries Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway have worked closely together and integrated into policy (Kester et al., 2018). This allows them to implement relatively robust climate policies and raised them to nearly the highest levels in the world in terms of sustainable public transportation and renewable energy generation (Kester et al., 2018).
In the case of the United States, it is actively proceeding to lay relevant bills (National Conference of State Legislatures: NCSL, 2018). According to the national legislative data, the number of legislation related autonomous vehicle has gradually increased each year and the number of states considering it has also increased. Since the first approval of Nevada's autonomous vehicle driving in 2011, many states, including Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, and so on, have passed the bill related autonomous vehicles and by 2017, related bills were passed in 33 states (NCSL, 2018).

Figure 2 States with Autonomous Vehicles Enacted Legislation and Executive Orders

Source: National Conference of State Legislatures (2018)

However, from 2017 to 2018, many proposed bills related to costs, liability, licensing, security and privacy issues of autonomous vehicles mentioned by Fagnant & Kockelman (2015) often ended in failure (NCSL, 2018). According to the NCSL’s Bill Tracking Database, 22 states have proposed bills related insurance and liability, 16 states proposed bills related licensing and registration and 7 states proposed bills related to privacy protection. However, when I check the current state of the proposed bills in December 2018, most of them are pending or failed. This is because there are many things be considered, such as safety, efficiency, and environment. Furthermore, people and the federal government are just afraid of unexpected side effects as well as anticipated risk factors. Nonetheless, as the technology for autonomous and electric vehicles continues to advance, I think that the state and federal governments should be able to study the potential risks and benefits and various (side) effects before these vehicles drive on roads since autonomous and electric vehicles to be an essential part of the car industry’s future (NCSL, 2018). Therefore, I gently suggest that policy and legislative research and cooperation may be necessary at the federal level for autonomous vehicles and electric vehicles, as in the case of Nordic cooperation and integration.

Reference
City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. (2009). Portland Plan Background Report Fall 2009. Retrieved from http://www.portlandonline.com/portlandplan/index.cfm?a=270874&c=51427
Kanayama, Y., & Hartman, B. I. (1990). Smooth local path planning for autonomous vehicles. In Autonomous robot vehicles(pp. 62-67). Springer, New York, NY.
Kester, J., Noel, L., de Rubens, G. Z., & Sovacool, B. K. (2018). Policy mechanisms to accelerate electric vehicle adoption: A qualitative review from the Nordic region. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 94, 719-731.
Krogh, B., & Thorpe, C. (1986, April). Integrated path planning and dynamic steering control for autonomous vehicles. In Robotics and Automation. Proceedings. 1986 IEEE International Conference on (Vol. 3, pp. 1664-1669). IEEE.
Fagnant, D. J., & Kockelman, K. M. (2014). The travel and environmental implications of shared autonomous vehicles, using agent-based model scenarios. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 40, 1-13.
Fagnant, D. J., & Kockelman, K. M. (2015). Preparing a nation for autonomous vehicles: opportunities, barriers and policy recommendations. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 77, 167-181.
National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). (November, 2018). Autonomous Vehicles: Self-driving Vehicles Enacted Legislation. Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/research/transportation/autonomous-vehicles-self-driving-vehicles-enacted-legislation.aspx
National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). (November, 2018). Autonomous Vehicles State Bill Tracking Database. Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/research/transportation/autonomous-vehicles-legislative-database.aspx
Shindell, D. T. (2015). The social cost of atmospheric release. Climatic Change, 130(2), 313-326.
Tomita, H. (December 2017). Awaiting the realization of fully automated vehicles: Potential economic effects and the need for a new economic and social design. VOX CEPR Policy Portal. Retrieved from https://voxeu.org/article/potential-economic-and-social-effects-driverless-cars
UN SDGs. About the Sustainable Development Goals. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/
UN SDGs. Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/cities/
UN SDGs. Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/climate-change-2/


[1] Autonomous vehicles and electric vehicles are related to the eleventh and thirteenth goals among the seventeen goals of the UN Sustainable Goals (SDGs): 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable & Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (Retrieved from UN SDGs. http:// www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/)

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