根据《有关SAE 标准的国会听证记录》 (Testifying before Congress about an SAE Standard)所述，今年 3 月末，SAE 获得了一次独一无二的机会，推行一套自动驾驶世界的通用“语言”，更具体来说，就是J3016 自动驾驶汽车评级标准。

近日，负责 SAE 联邦项目发展 (Federal Program Development) 的 William Gouse 接受了美国众议院电子商务和消费者保护小组委员会 (U.S.House of Representatives Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection) 有关自动驾驶汽车相关问题的提问。作为证人，Gouse的目的是说服联邦政府在联邦和各州范围内推行 SAE J3016 标准。除了 Gouse外，另外 3 位一同参与听证的 SAE 会员分别为：博世公司(Bosch) 的 KayStepper 博士、大陆集团(Continental) 的 Jeff Klei、美国公路安全保险协会 (IIHS) 的 David Zuby，因而这也是首个完全由 SAE 会员组成的国会听证会参与团队。

2016 年 9 月，NHTSA首次在其《联邦自动驾驶汽车政策 (Federal Automated VehiclesPolicy)》中采用了SAE 自动驾驶汽车分级标准。然而，美国国会仍尚未决定在联邦或各州范围内，推行这套自动驾驶汽车评级标准或任何其他指导政策。

Gouse 告诉《汽车工程》杂志，目前美国联邦和各州政府并未采用一套统一标准，描述自动驾驶汽车的自动化水平，而这会引起很多困惑。

Gouse 表示：“我们一直试图让人们能够使用统一的术语和标准来定义自动驾驶汽车的自动化级别。”在听证会上，Gouse作为证人，向小组委员会成员介绍了 SAE 在开发统一标准方面发挥的领导作用，及 SAE J3016标准的相关内容。

“这套《推荐作法》2014 年出台，2016 年 9 月修改，目前已经被《联邦自动化车辆政策》(Federal Automated Vehicles Policy) 所引用，可为包括联邦、各州及地方政府立法者、监管者、政策制定者在内的多个方面，提供全面的自动驾驶汽车分级定义与标准。” Gouse 在证词中表示，“从0 级到 5 级，这套标准可以全面覆盖从非自动驾驶汽车到全自动驾驶汽车在内的所有道路车辆。”

在规定的 5 分钟证词陈诉中，Gouse还指出：“重要的是，这些标准并不涉及具体规格，不对驾驶自动化系统或主动安全系统的应用提出要求，也并不对任何市场导入和推广顺序进行暗示。”

Gouse 解释说，规范自动驾驶系统的评级分类标准及相关术语有以下几个好处：

• 阐明（人类）驾驶员在自动驾驶中的（可能）角色；

• 回答有关立法、政策、规定和标准覆盖范围方面的问题；

• 为自动驾驶系统相关规格和技术需求提供框架性规范。

• 保证自动驾驶相关问题探讨的清晰、一致和稳定，进而减少大量用于澄清和记录的时间和精力。

Gouse 还表示，除了研发工程社区外，J3016 标准“还旨在服务于包括立法者、监管者、法律服务业、一般行业媒体及公共消费者/使用者在内，更多与自动驾驶技术或驾驶员辅助系统相关的各方人士。”

 “在目前的制度下，你可以开车或租用（非自动驾驶）汽车去纽约、俄亥俄或弗吉尼亚州，因为这些州在这方面并没有特殊的法律规定。”Gouse告诉《汽车工程》，“但你不能使用谷歌或优步的自动驾驶服务，因为这些州在自动驾驶方面的规定有所不同，有的州已经在着手修改立法，从而为自动驾驶汽车的测试提供便利，而其他州则没有这样做，所以情况很复杂。”

Gouse 表示，目前参议院和众议院都在举行听证会，探讨相关乘用车和商用车自动驾驶技术，比如驾驶员辅助系统、自动驾驶系统、网络安全等问题，及联邦和各州政府在相关测试运行方面发挥的作用。目前，参众两院均在起草相关指导文件，为交通运输部和各州政府提供指导。

如需了解听证会、问答环节及其他 3 位 SAE 会员的完整证词陈述等内容，请点击

https://energycommerce.house.gov/hearings-and-votes/hearings/self-driving-cars-levels-automation

In late March, SAE had a unique opportunity—a first, according to the record books: Testifying before Congress about an SAE Standard. More specifically J3016—Levels of Vehicle Automation.

William Gouse, who directs SAE’s Federal Program Development activity, faced the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection that is addressing self-driving cars. Gouse served as witness, his testimony aimed at getting the federal government to adopt SAE J3016 both in federal policy and state regulations/legislation. He was joined by three other SAE members, Dr. Kay Stepper of Robert Bosch, Jeff Klei of Continental AG and David Zuby of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. This was itself another first—a Congressional hearing made up strictly of SAE members.

In September 2016, NHTSA adopted SAE’s Levels of Automation for its own use in its Federal Automated Vehicles Policy (http://articles.sae.org/15021/). However, Congress has yet to make a ruling on using the standard or any guideline at the federal and state levels.

Gouse told Automotive Engineering that there currently isn’t a common language—a vocabulary—used consistently for referring to the levels of automation across the U.S. at both federal and state levels. This has caused extensive confusion.

“I have been trying to get people to use the same terms and how to define automated driving [levels],” he said. In Gouse’s role as a witness at the hearing, he informed the subcommittee members about SAE’s leadership in consensus-based standards development and about SAE J3016.

“This Recommended Practice originally published in 2014 and revised last September, and referenced in the Federal Automated Vehicles Policy, provides stakeholders including federal, state, and local/municipal legislators, regulators and policy-makers with a taxonomy describing the full range of six levels (SAE 0 through 5) of driving automation in on-road motor vehicles,” Gouse stated in his testimony. “These six levels span from no automation to full automation.”

During his allotted five minutes of testimony, Gouse also noted: “Importantly, what these standards do not provide are specifications, or otherwise impose requirements on, driving automation systems or active safety systems. Nor does it imply any particular order of market introduction or adoption.”

Gouse explained that standardizing levels of driving automation and supporting terms serves several purposes, including:

-Clarifying the role of the (human) driver, if any, during driving automation system engagement.

-Answering questions of scope when it comes to developing laws, policies, regulations, and standards.

-Providing a useful framework for driving automation specifications and technical requirements.

-Providing clarity, consistency, and stability in communications on the topic of driving automation, as well as a useful short-hand that saves considerable time and effort.

He also said that J3016 is “designed to be useful to many beyond the engineering community, such as legislators, regulators, others in the legal profession, the general and trade media and consumers and the public that are buying, riding in, or having freight delivered in a vehicle with some level of driver assistance or automation.”

“In the current system, you can drive your car or a rental car to New York, Ohio or Virginia for example, and they’re aren’t separate laws [in each state],” he told AE. “But you can’t do that with Google or Uber cars right now. That’s what’s happening because they’re being governed by separate state laws. Some states are changing them [laws] to allow for the testing, others are not. It’s a complicated deal.”

Gouse said there are ongoing hearings in both the Senate and the House regarding technology of passenger and commercial vehicles, such as driver assistance systems, driving automation systems, cybersecurity and the federal versus state's role in regulation of testing and operation. Both chambers are working on drafts that will direct or give guidance to the DOT and the states.

The hearing and Q&A session, along with Gouse and the other three SAE members full testimonies, can be viewed at https://energycommerce.house.gov/hearings-and-votes/hearings/self-driving-cars-levels-automation.

Author: Jennifer Shuttleworth
Source: SAE Automotive Engineering Magazine