In the News

According to one West Virginia senator, the future of automotive technology will be driverless.

Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., hosted a forum on self-driving vehicles at West Virginia University’s Erickson Alumni Center in Morgantown Wednesday.

The event featured speaking appearances from representatives of major car companies, the ridesharing service Uber and the think tank The RAND Corporation.

McKinley said he was inspired to host Wednesday’s event after participating in a hearing about autonomous vehicles put on by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

“I wanted to assemble a group of the country’s experts from government and private enterprise to share what is being done to make sure this technology is efficient, safe, affordable and beneficial,” he said. “This information will be invaluable to us as we work together to diversify the economy of West Virginia.”

WVU president Gordon Gee said the emerging technology of self-driving cars presents a unique opportunity to both the citizens of West Virginia and the students of WVU.

“We can integrate our deep automotive history with our track record of innovative technology and quite frankly, I’m hoping that some of that research is going to be done here at WVU,” he said. “We’ve got some of the best scientists and engineers across this country.”

Andy York, executive director of federal affairs for General Motors, said the main advantage of self-driving cars is safety.

“In the future when most or all of our cars are self-driving transportation will be much, much safer than it is today,” he said. “Because, by definition, computers and automated driving systems don’t drive when they are intoxicated, they’re not distracted or tired when they’re driving and they don’t speed.”

In addition to safety, self-driving cars will offer freedom and mobility to the elderly, disabled, blind and deaf, York said.

This could potentially increase voter turn out nationwide, York said.

“It is estimated that we would have 3 million more votes in 2012 if persons with disabilities had participated in the election at the same rate as people who do not have disabilities,” he said. “Self-driving vehicles can provide tremendous accessibility benefits for a large number of Americans who do not have access to transportation today.”

For the rest of the article click here.