Do autonomous vehicles need their own license plate and why?
The day may come when autonomous cars will be the norm and manual vehicles will be the exception. But it’s not that far yet – not for a long time. Just ten years ago, the term “autonomous driving” was still relatively unknown and only in recent years has regular operation with partial autonomy succeeded, such as the registration of the new Mercedes-Benz S class.
As awareness of autonomous driving technology increases, normal traffic habits will remain. This includes acting by ear or looking at the driver to make sure you were seen. Both will have to change. Acting by ear becomes a problem with e-cars and the security view is not answered by an autonomous vehicle.
The indicator is the identifying feature. The autonomous car will certainly also have its own sign in the license plate, like the electric car with its E at the end, or its own license plate. Presumably a color or some other shape of the classic hallmark generate more attention. But the number plate alone is probably not enough.
It would be even better if autonomous cars were specially marked. So that everyone involved understands what they are dealing with. Of course, such a conspicuous vehicle would also have disadvantages. One has to assume that there will be one or the other practical joke with the vehicles. Knowing that they brake at a certain distance, maybe you want to try it? Or if you know that the vehicles brake when entering the lane, some might make it a pastime. The question of being hacked is also possible with so much attention, as is that aggression to be delivered. made these experiences Waymo in the USA.
Nevertheless, there will probably be a uniform representation of the technology. Maybe the price-performance ratio for autonomous driving can only be achieved with robot taxis, then that would be regulated with the uniform representation: They would look like taxis.