For neighbors of a proposed autonomous-car trial, the useful name in the partnership announcement is BMW. Its January 4, 2017 release assigned the company overall functional-safety evaluation, vehicle control, component integration and prototype production. Those stated responsibilities give road users a starting point for questions about a trial, rather than asking them to judge each chip separately. [bmw-testfleet]

The scale and calendar also matter. BMW, Intel and Mobileye announced roughly 40 autonomous test cars, with BMW 7 Series trials beginning in the United States and Europe and a fleet expected on roads by the second half of 2017. Read from March 13, that January forecast identifies a planned testing program, not a record of trials already operating. [bmw-testfleet]

Intel’s March 13 agreement to acquire Mobileye concerned corporate ownership, with regulatory approvals and other closing conditions still ahead. It should sit alongside, rather than replace, the earlier safety-responsibility map. The BMW release also described planned work with Mobileye on combining sensor information and developing driving policy. These were engineering assignments and ambitions, not independent findings that the cars were safe. [bmw-testfleet][intel-mobileye]

Our proposed resident inquiry would therefore ask BMW to explain safeguards for the particular trial and how its overall evaluation addresses the integrated vehicle. Keep a record of the trial being discussed, the question and the response, so a general technology statement cannot silently become an answer about a specific road. This is a suggested accountability practice, not a newly reported safeguard or legal duty. [bmw-testfleet]

Source documents

  1. Intel to Acquire Mobileyehttps://www.intc.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/243/intel-to-acquire-mobileye
  2. BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye will have autonomous test vehicles on the roads by the second half of 2017https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/detail/T0266961EN/bmw-group-intel-and-mobileye-will-have-autonomous-test-vehicles-on-the-roads-by-the-second-half-of-2017?language=en