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70 Big Data Analytics for Connected Vehicles and Smart Cities Connected and Autonomous Vehicles 71

regulations will be required. Before exploring some of the challenges associated
with connected and autonomous vehicles, it is useful to consider how a new
technology introduction has been handled in the past. What better example
than the automobile?
The automobile was invented in 1886 when Karl Friedrich Benz invented
the first true automobile powered by an internal combustion engine, fueled
by gasoline. Prior to that, the use of steam-powered road locomotives in the
United Kingdom, led to the introduction of a series of locomotive acts, the
most notable being the Locomotive Act of 1865 [11], also referred to as the Red
Flag Act. This act stipulated that road locomotives should comply with a gen-
eral speed limit of 4 mph and 2 mph in towns. At the time, road locomotives
were capable of speeds of up to 10 mph. The act also decreed that if the road
locomotive was attached to two or more vehicles, a man with a red flag walking
at least 60 yards ahead of each vehicle was mandatory. This rather draconian
regulation was amended in subsequent legislation, which led to a relaxation of
the speed limit to 12 mph, with the requirement for the red flag also removed.
There was a perception at the time that new technology represented a
safety threat. It may also have been the case that vested interests related to
horse-drawn carriages and the competing U.K. railway industry had a say in
the legislation. A lesson to be learned here is that the economic benefits of the
new technology (steam-driven road locomotives) were such that safety concerns
and regulatory needs were quickly and effectively dealt with. The introduction
of the internal combustion–driven car added to this momentum for progress.
The past echoes as we react to self-driving vehicles in the way we reacted
to stream-driven road locomotives in the past. It provides the basis for great op-
timism for future policymaking, as history shows that market forces will even-
tually overcome regulatory issues.

Getting There in Stages
With respect to the connected vehicle there are very few issues when it comes
to transitioning from the current situation to the fully equipped connected
vehicle. As discussed in Section 4.4, there are two distinct approaches but in
any event it is possible that the technology is there and that there are few bar-
riers to implementation. With respect to the autonomous vehicle, we have a
different situation. One of the challenges is the gradual and safe introduction
of autonomous vehicles, moving from the current situation where every vehicle
has a driver, through some level of partial automation, to complete automation.
In addressing terminology associated with the autonomous vehicle, the Society
of Automotive Engineers has developed a framework that explains the probable
transition from today to tomorrow. This is illustrated in Figure 4.11.