[AutonomousVehicles] The AV industry sends an SOS to Pete Buttigieg

[Cornelius Butler]

Hi Everyone,
The autonomous vehicle industry is asking the U.S. Transportation Secretary
for help. Article Link and Text is below.

Article Link:
https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/11/23996729/autonomous-vehicle-industry-letter-pete-buttigieg-cruise

Article Text:
AUTONOMOUS CARS/TRANSPO/POLICY
The AV industry sends an SOS to Pete Buttigieg

The autonomous vehicle industry is in trouble and is looking for help from
an unlikely source: US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

A coalition of lobbying groups sent Buttigieg a letter last week imploring
him to support AV development or risk being outpaced by China. The subtext,
of course, is the crisis facing GM subsidiary Cruise, which grounded its
fleet recently in the aftermath of a crash involving one of its driverless
cars.

The letter makes no mention of the situation with Cruise, instead focusing
on the looming threat of competition from China. Signatories include the
Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, which represents Cruise, Waymo,
Zoox, Motional, and others, as well as the US Chamber of Commerce and the
Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which lobbies for the auto industry.

“The Department’s support for AV development is crucial to maintain our
nation’s competitive edge and secure our position as a global leader,” the
groups write. “The U.S. stands at a critical juncture in the AV race, with
countries like China aggressively investing and advancing the technology.”



Self-driving cars are safer than human drivers “because they eliminate
human errors like fatigued, impaired, and distracted driving,” the groups
said. “The need to dramatically improve road safety has never been higher,
and we need to take an ‘all-of-the-above’ strategy that includes AVs
alongside other safety measures.”



The federal government has largely taken a back seat to regulating
autonomous vehicles, leaving states to develop their own rulebooks for safe
deployment. Legislation that would dramatically increase the number of AVs
on the road has been stalled in Congress for over six years, with lawmakers
at odds over a range of issues, including the number of exemptions from
federal motor vehicle safety standards.



A potential stopgap solution called AV STEP was proposed by the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration earlier this year. This program could
allow the agency to authorize more vehicles without traditional controls,
like pedals and steering wheels, without hitting the annual cap on the
number of exemptions. In its letter, the AV industry implores Buttigieg to
start the rulemaking process on AV STEP.

NHTSA had said it would start the rulemaking process on AV STEP in the
fall, though it seems to have missed that deadline. A spokesperson for the
US Department of Transportation did not respond to a request for comment.

The situation with Cruise has exposed serious trust issues with AVs.
California regulators accuse Cruise of withholding video footage showing
its driverless vehicle dragging a pedestrian following a hit-and-run.
(Cruise denies this.) GM CEO Mary Barra recently told investors that the
company must “build trust” with communities, including first responders,
before deploying its cars back on the road.

It’s hard to imagine Buttigieg or NHTSA continuing to embrace AVs at a time
when public opinion toward self-driving cars seems to be souring. NHTSA has
opened an investigation into the Cruise incident, and Buttigieg has
publicly said that the government needs to ensure that AVs are safe before
they are deployed at scale.

Update December 13th 1:03PM ET: After this story published, a spokesperson
for USDOT sent a statement reacting to the letter.

“When developed and deployed with the appropriate safeguards and
consideration of broader societal impacts, Automated Driving Systems have
the potential to lead to better outcomes across the transportation system,”
the spokesperson said. “However, these outcomes are not intrinsic or
inherent to the technology. The net impacts – on safety, mobility,
emissions, workforce and otherwise – will be the result of engineering,
deployment, and policy choices. This is why the Department’s approach
centers on its core policy priorities and the position that safety is
fundamental to unlocking the technology’s potential for broader positive
impact. As the technology develops, the Department will advance its
research and policy agendas to identify areas of economic benefit and risk,
give workers a seat at the table in shaping innovation, and work to
forestall harm to workers, expand access to skills and training, and
support pathways to good jobs.”
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/autonomousvehicles_nfbnet.org/attachments/20231214/23e0406b/attachment.html>