Key Findings
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and SAE International have jointly initiated ASCEND, a new industry consortium dedicated to evaluating the safety and performance of Automated Driving Systems (ADS). ASCEND’s primary objective is to establish comprehensive, data-driven performance standards and testing methodologies to determine when an ADS can be considered “safe enough.” This landmark effort represents a critical milestone in catching up with the rapid evolution of autonomous driving technology, aiming to bridge the existing gap in standardized evaluation frameworks and provide crucial clarity for consumers, the industry, and regulatory bodies.
Technical / Clinical Details
The ASCEND consortium will specifically focus on developing data-driven performance standards that highlight the real-world behavior and safety of ADS. This includes a methodology for integrating and analyzing actual road data, simulation data, and test track results to quantitatively assess the safety margins and reliability of ADS across various driving scenarios. The evaluation will encompass a wide range of aspects, such as the ADS’s ability to respond to unexpected traffic conditions, performance under adverse weather, and the safety of interactions with pedestrians and cyclists. Currently, while autonomous driving technology shows high performance under specific conditions, there is no unified standard for evaluating its capability to handle unpredictable events or its overall safety compared to human drivers. ASCEND aims to rectify this by providing objective and reproducible evaluation criteria.
Background & Context
Autonomous driving technology holds immense promise for enhancing traffic safety, alleviating congestion, and transforming mobility. However, ensuring safety and gaining public acceptance are paramount for its successful deployment. Historically, there has been a lack of internationally established metrics and testing protocols for evaluating the safety of self-driving cars, leading to a situation where each company makes its own safety claims. This absence of standardized criteria has caused confusion for consumers, difficulties in risk assessment for the insurance industry, and complexity in regulatory approval processes. The establishment of ASCEND by NHTSA and SAE is a direct response to these challenges, with the expectation that industry-wide common safety standards will accelerate the healthy development and societal integration of autonomous driving technology.
Strategic Significance & Outlook
The data-driven performance standards established by the ASCEND consortium will provide a ‘common language’ for safety among autonomous driving developers, regulators, and consumers. This will enable developers to clearly define safety objectives early in the product design phase and conduct testing more efficiently. Regulators will find it easier to make approval decisions based on objective data, and consumers will be able to adopt autonomous vehicles with greater confidence. In the long term, the ASCEND framework has the potential to evolve into an international standard, forming the basis for autonomous driving safety evaluations worldwide. This marks a decisive step towards the widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles as an integral part of societal infrastructure.
Source: https://geeknewz.com/nhtsa-and-sae-launch-ascend-to-define-when-a-self-driving-car-is-safe-enough/
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