"The AV START Act would be a good place to begin with the ultimate goal being to have a globally harmonized policy."

Arguably, the most important benefit of self-driving vehicles is safety. Globally over a million people are killed each year in vehicle accidents and fifty million more are injured, with almost all of the accidents attributable to human error.

Self-driving vehicles are poised to significantly reduce the number of road accidents and deaths by eliminating human drivers and therefore human error. This translates to positive GDP growth; if the number of road deaths in China were halved, for example, it is estimated that they would see a 15 percent increase in their GDP. ‎

Driver monitoring systems cannot be the safety solution for autonomous vehicles. If vehicles in self-driving mode are made to require driver intervention for accident prevention, it defeats the core purpose of the technology and puts the safety problem back on the table.

As well it could make the driver liable for any accidents, even those that occur when the vehicle is in self-driving mode.

The fatal accidents that have occurred in self-driving cars should instead serve as a wake-up call to the fact that, despite the hype and haste of the market to make autonomous vehicles available for sale, we have more work to do to make the technology safe.

Equally important, considerable effort must be put in by the private and public sectors in defining safety regulations and policies.

If self-driving vehicles continue to be developed and allowed on the road without safety standards being put in place by the federal government there are real risks. Safety must be the number one priority for autonomous vehicles.