In self-driving cars, human drivers and standards come up short: experts

FILE PHOTO: The front end of the test vehicle Acura is using to test its autonomous Automated Drive car is pictured at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 16, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

Autonomous cars should be required to meet standards on their ability to detect potential hazards and better ways are needed to keep their human drivers ready to assume control, US auto safety and technology experts said after fatal crashes involving Uber Technologies Inc and Tesla Inc vehicles.

Automakers and tech companies rely on human drivers to step in when necessary with self-driving technology. But in the two recent crashes, which involved vehicles using different kinds of technologies, neither of the human drivers took any action before the accidents.