Autonomous Vehicles May Get The BOOST They've Been Looking For Next Week — Vote Comes Wednesday

The U.S. House of Representatives will vote Wednesday on a sweeping proposal to speed the deployment of self-driving cars without human controls and bar states from blocking autonomous vehicles, congressional aides said.

The bill, which was passed unanimously by a House panel in July, would allow automakers to obtain exemptions to deploy up to 25,000 vehicles without meeting existing auto safety standards in the first year, a cap that would rise to 100,000 vehicles annually over three years.

Automakers and technology companies including General Motors Co and Alphabet Inc‘s’ self-driving unit Waymo have been pushing for new federal rules making it easier to deploy self-driving technology. Meanwhile, some consumer groups have sought additional safeguards…

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TheSteve - 9/3/2017 7:28:32 PM

+1 Boost

Article: "...allow automakers to obtain exemptions to deploy up to 25,000 vehicles without meeting existing auto safety standards..."

Hmmmm. I like automotive safety. This proposal doesn't sound like a smart idea for me: autonomous; safety optional.

Agent00R - 9/4/2017 2:00:29 PM

0 Boost

Agreed!

Safety, especially with this all-new tech, should be paramount.

CANADIANCOMMENTS - 9/4/2017 2:31:02 PM

-1 Boost

Automobile manufacturers in 2017 still view safety as a "cost" and not a key component of a car. This statement could not make that more clear. Who do you think pushed for that clause? Shameful.

MDarringer - 9/4/2017 4:25:01 PM

+4 Boost

Just pass more laws and all the problems will go away because passing lots of laws makes life better.

If you want safety, OUTLAW autonomous cars because the minute the Democrats hack autonomous cars and blame it on the Russians, chaos will ensue.

TheSteve - 9/4/2017 7:12:21 PM

-3 Boost

MDarringer: You have a point. If we simply eliminated all laws, and let people's and enterprises' good nature be expressed to their maximum ability, unencumbered by those pesky laws, then I'm sure we'd see an instant upshot in car companies doing what's in The People's best interests. It makes sense to me.

(Yeah, that was biting sarcasm.)

Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth, I observe that auto companies lobbied hard against things we take for granted today, like daytime running lights, mandatory driver and passenger airbags, seat-belts, greater fuel economy/lower emissions, etc. The auto-industry's arguments against these things were always along the lines of "it'll add thousands of dollars to the price of a new car, and the benefit they provide is minimal."

Making profit is cool. Making profit + F*ck the consumer, not so much. At least, that's the opinion I hold.

MDarringer - 9/4/2017 8:38:56 PM

+3 Boost

What a foolishly illogical rebuttal.