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Consumer Safety Group Calls for Federal Regulation of Self-Driving Cars
The Center for Auto Safety is the nation’s premier independent, member driven, non-profit consumer advocacy organization dedicated to improving vehicle safety, quality, and fuel economy on behalf of all drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.
Center for Auto Safety says government rules could determine whether consumers are willing to give self-driving vehicles a shot.
The Center for Auto Safety is calling for government oversight of automated vehicles, warning that another fatality— like one in Florida last year involving a Tesla—could set back public acceptance of self-driving technology by decades.
While no fully autonomous vehicles are currently available to consumers, Tesla and other manufacturers have produced cars with varying levels of self-driving capabilities.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration earlier this year published a voluntary policy on automated driving systems and has since indicated that it will continue on a self-regulatory route for self-driving cars when it updates its policy next year.
The approach allowing the industry to regulate itself could further harm consumer perceptions of automated vehicles, according to the non-profit consumer group.
“There may never be a more critical moment in the development of the self-driving car technology in terms of consumer acceptance,” said Jason Levine, the center’s executive director, in prepared remarks before the NHTSA at the Department of Transportation Monday.