ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Self-driving cars are a part of the future, whether drivers are ready or not.

In Orange County this week, the Central Florida Expressway Authority is hosting the Florida Automated Vehicles Summit to showcase new technology to make self-driving cars easier to access and safer to use.

What You Need To Know

  • The Florida Automated Vehicles Summit is taking place this week in Orange County

  • HAAS Alert provided information on its technology to alert self-driving cars of emergency vehicles

  • May Mobility demonstrated autonomous shuttle rides offered in several cities worldwide

“There are move-over laws in all 50 states, but despite those move-over laws, people that work on roads are routinely hit by vehicles on a daily basis,” Brock Aun of HAAS Alert said.

HAAS Alert has come up with a way to warn self-driving cars to yield when an emergency vehicle approaches, he said.

“As soon as the light bar is activated, those alerts are delivered to drivers who can receive them,” he explained.

In August, the Florida Highway Patrol indicated a Tesla on auto mode hit a patrol car that was stopped on Interstate-4 to help a broken-down vehicle.

That’s a big fear for many who are uncertain about the expansion of self-driving cars.

Nathan Sunbury, an engineer with May Mobility, demonstrated the technology on his autonomous shuttle vehicle. That kind of technology should instill some confidence in those skeptical of self-driving cars, he said.

“(My goals are) just to move people, transform cities, hope to help the world become a more connected place,” Sunbury said.