Comment from Garry N=a
Garry N=aSupportIndividual
Summary: The commenter argues that all AI-driven vehicles must be required to include physical steering wheels, brake pedals, and accelerators to allow for human override. They contend that manual controls are a necessary redundancy to protect against software failures, hardware malfunctions, and cybersecurity threats.
Every AI-driven vehicle should be required to include a physical steering wheel, brake pedal, and accelerator that allow a human occupant to immediately override the automated system.
No software is infallible. AI systems can make mistakes, sensors can fail, hardware can malfunction, and cybersecurity threats continue to evolve. If a self-driving vehicle has no manual controls, then the occupants are completely dependent on the correct operation of a complex network of computers and sensors with no way to intervene if something goes wrong.
Cybersecurity is another major concern. Connected vehicles are attractive targets for criminals, hostile governments, organized crime, and terrorists. While manufacturers work to secure these systems, history has repeatedly shown that no connected technology is completely immune from vulnerabilities. If a vehicle's automated systems were ever compromised, removing manual controls also removes the occupants' last line of defense.
This is not merely a theoretical concern. Engineers design safety-critical systems with redundancy because they recognize that no single system should be trusted without a backup. Aircraft have multiple redundant flight systems. Elevators have emergency brakes. Trains have emergency stop mechanisms. Critical infrastructure is designed with independent layers of protection. Autonomous vehicles should follow the same engineering philosophy.
Removing the steering wheel and pedals creates a single point of failure. Whether the problem is a software bug, sensor failure, communication error, or malicious cyberattack, the occupants would have no means of regaining control. That is not an increase in safety—it is the removal of the final safety mechanism.
Technology should expand human capability, not eliminate human authority over a two-ton machine traveling at highway speeds. Any legislation allowing fully autonomous vehicles should require permanent, physically connected steering, braking, and acceleration controls that cannot be disabled by software and that immediately override the AI whenever a human occupant chooses.