Autonomous Cars, Trust and Safety Case for the Public

Today’s world of road traffic is dramatically changing, triggered by the development of new technologies and a focus on accident-free driving. “Autonomous” cars are being tested several places. It is a race, among the car manufacturers, to be among the first to develop fully autonomous cars and authorities are supporting them by adapting the regulations. New technology has made it simpler to monitor the operation of cars, including their safety systems. A safety case is required by the international standard for road vehicles, ISO 26262:2018 series. UK has issued a “Code of practice” that also requires a safety case to be issued. The practice states that trialing organizations should develop an abridged public version of the safety case that should be freely available. UL (Underwriters Laboratories) a USA certification and standards development company plan to issue a new standard UL4600 in 2019 that addresses safety case for the safety of autonomous products. However, when accidents related to autonomous cars happen, minor discussions have taken place in media related to the safety evidence supplied by the car manufacturer, presented as e.g., a safety case. A safety case is normally developed to convince a third party that the product or system is safe. Our suggestion is that also a safety case for the public should be issued to ensure that (1) the public are aware that safety evidence exists, and (2) that limitations are transparent and described in an easy-to-understand way. Regulations and safety standards will provide requirements and guidelines for manufacturers, third parties and technology developers. It is, however, also important to inform the public. A safety case as it is today is too technical for the public, is often lengthy (more than 100 pages) and includes confidential information, and as a result the safety case cannot be presented to the public. A recent study, March 2019 [21], by the American Automobile Association has found that Americans remain highly skeptical to self-driving vehicles, with nearly three out of four of those surveyed saying they would be afraid to get into a driverless vehicle. We have studied the 16 existing NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) related self-assessment information from manufacturers. None of the reports refer to a safety case, only one report mentions safety case. Based upon these evaluations and our survey, we have suggested a public safety case with a limited number of pages, using concise, easy to read and understandable text, marks and pictures. Using such a safety case will help manufacturers, operators and early implementation sites to gain public trust.