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Cars Don't Get Air Traffic Control

How flying a 1970s airplane got me thinking about autonomous cars

aviation / autonomy / safety

I fly a Piper Archer Cherokee from 1976 as a private pilot. Luckily it has upgraded avionics: two Garmin G5s, a GTN 650, and a GFC 500 autopilot. These provide improved reliability, increased information, and additional plane automation over the initially certified design.

However, a pilot is still required to pay attention and take over the plane when needed. The pilot is considered Pilot in Command and has final authority of the aircraft and is responsible for safety of the crew, passengers, and cargo (14 CFR § 1.1, 14 CFR § 91.3, 14 CFR § 121.533(d)). While not a perfect metaphor, this is very similar to L2 automation for cars, which SAE classifies as a driver support system rather than an automated driving system.1

The aviation industry is exploring full automation. Example companies include Wisk, Joby, Archer, and Reliable Robotics. But on the ground, Level 4 (L4) autonomous vehicle platforms have already moved from research into commercial reality.

This got me curious: How do I think about the opportunity for autonomous vehicles versus autonomous planes? I’ve landed on two key differences: the certification process to fly and the coordination from air traffic control.

Aviation picks its humans

Earning a private pilot certificate costs money, time, and ends with a checkride in front of an examiner. After that checkride, pilots need to have a flight review every 2 years (and the rules expand as more ratings and certifications are earned).

Even with this level of certification, pilot error is still the leading cause of general aviation accidents. In 2023, about 70% of noncommercial fixed-wing accidents were pilot related.2

Compare this to driving. After getting a license at sixteen, drivers do not need to recertify on any regular basis resulting in a much larger variance of drivers on the road. If some of the most trained operators in aviation still have accidents due to pilot error, relying on ~242 million drivers who don’t have any recertification will hit a safety ceiling.

This ceiling is the opportunity. Remove the driver and move to L4 (or higher) automation for vehicles.

Aviation has someone else watching

General aviation and commercial aviation both operate with air traffic control (ATC) which keeps an eye on all planes and vectors them as needed to avoid collisions. Airplanes also carry Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), which broadcasts their position to controllers and to every other aircraft nearby.

There is no ATC or ADS-B equivalent for cars. Drivers are the only ones paying attention. If the driver is distracted, there’s no fall back and an accident can happen.

In 2024, distracted drivers were involved in 732,914 crashes, 12 percent of every police-reported crash in the country.3 That is the reported floor. A study that watched drivers on camera put distraction in 29 percent of all crashes.4

A single autonomous vehicle isn’t the same as having ATC & ADS-B. But it never stops paying attention.

The risk of the middle

L2 automation asks a driver to stay ready while doing less and less in the car. Aviation already saw the effects of this. Pilots who fly highly automated airplanes lose hand flying proficiency, and the industry spends money training pilots to take over from a system that usually does not need them.5

Many vehicles are at L2 now and carry this risk. Moving to full driverless automation brings this risk down as the variability of the driver is removed.

What this costs

Trucking, delivery, rideshare, and taxi work employ millions of people in this country. Moving to full autonomy results in job loss.6 New technologies often come with new job opportunities and work will be required to help retrain people.

Additionally larger robotaxi fleets may add more traffic congestion and increase transit times especially in urban areas.6 These changes will have spillover effects on daily planning, emergency response access, and other unforeseen scenarios.

The drive home

Every time I fly the Archer, I use my pre-flight checklist, take off, and turn on the autopilot somewhere near cruise. It holds the heading and altitude better than I do. But I still watch it, because I am Pilot in Command and the airplane is my responsibility.

This works because I was screened (and get screened every 2 years) and someone is watching me and the traffic around me. None of that is true on my drive home from the airport. This is the opportunity for autonomous vehicles.

Footnotes

  1. SAE International, Taxonomy and Definitions for Terms Related to Driving Automation Systems for On-Road Motor Vehicles, J3016_202104 (SAE International, 2021), https://saemobilus.sae.org/standards/j3016_202104-taxonomy-definitions-terms-related-driving-automation-systems-road-motor-vehicles. ↩

  2. AOPA Air Safety Institute, The 35th Richard G. McSpadden General Aviation Safety Report (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, 2025), https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/air-safety-institute/accident-analysis/richard-g-mcspadden-report. ↩

  3. National Center for Statistics and Analysis, Distracted Driving in 2024, Research Note, Report No. DOT HS 813 790 (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2026), Table 6, https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813790. ↩

  4. Lawrence Blincoe et al., The Economic and Societal Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes, 2019 (Revised), Report No. DOT HS 813 403 (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2023), https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813403; cited in National Center for Statistics and Analysis, Distracted Driving in 2024. ↩

  5. Performance-based Aviation Rulemaking Committee and Commercial Aviation Safety Team, Flight Deck Automation Working Group, Operational Use of Flight Path Management Systems (Federal Aviation Administration, 2013), https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/aircraft/air_cert/design_approvals/human_factors/OUFPMS_Report.pdf; Federal Aviation Administration, Manual Flight Operations Proficiency, SAFO 17007 (2017), https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/2022-11/SAFO17007.pdf. ↩

  6. John J. Leonard, David A. Mindell, and Erik L. Stayton, Autonomous Vehicles, Mobility, and Employment Policy: The Roads Ahead, Research Brief (MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future, 2020), https://workofthefuture-taskforce.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2020-Research-Brief-Leonard-Mindell-Stayton3.pdf. ↩ ↩2