It’s one thing to talk about grand ideas like Vision Zero, the initiative to eliminate traffic-related fatalities. It’s quite another to actually achieve it. Because when we’re just talking about it, we can speak in breezy assumptions about how many cars will have what kinds of technology in how many years, and otherwise like that. This is fine, but eventually the talk has to translate into action; all this technology has to be bought and paid for if it’s going to wind up in the actual cars on the actual roads. Automakers have to buy and pay for it when they’re building cars, and drivers have to buy and pay for it when they’re buying cars and repair parts. This week, we take a look at an interesting lecture given by Mobileye’s Professor Amnon Shashua at CES in Las Vegas. His proposals are well worth listening to—not necessarily as some kind of one true path, but as an exemplar of how to think about the multifaceted problem.
We’ve also got a special report from GTB President Geoff Draper, who describes and comments on the regulatory topics presented and discussed at the DVN US Workshop a little over two weeks ago. It seems some good might come from NHTSA’s inexplicable ADB proposal: the UN vehicle lighting regulatory ecosystem is working on objective performance test protocols for ADB that might address NHTSA’s objection to the present UN tests that involve subjective thumbs-up or -down from a lighting expert.
Hector’s continuing his convalescence in France, now that he returned from Detroit; all of us here at DVN appreciate your good wishes.
Onward into February!
At your service
Daniel Stern
DVN Chief Editor