Issues
NTSB: California Should Fix Highway Safety Barriers Faster
Jason Levine, an attorney and executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a nonprofit consumer group, declined comment on whether the NTSB report could be advantageous for plaintiffs suing California over poor highway infrastructure. But he said the NTSB’s findings show the crucial role that infrastructure plays in car safety. “Just as higher priority…
Spotting a Fire Truck Ahead Is Easy for People, Not So for Cars
Advocates for cutting the death toll on U.S. roadways are eagerly awaiting the maturity of the technology because of its promise to reduce accidents, particularly rear-end collisions, Levine said. “It is a potential giant leap forward in terms of protecting drivers, passengers and pedestrians,” he added. “It just has to be done right.” To the…
NTSB: Autopilot flaw, driver inattention caused Tesla crash
The Center for Auto Safety, another advocacy group, also called for a recall. “Put simply, a vehicle that enables a driver to not pay attention, or fall asleep, while accelerating into a parked fire truck is defective and dangerous,” the group said in a statement. “Any company that encourages such behavior should be held responsible,…
Star Safety Ratings, Long Helpful to Car Buyers, Now Languish in the Breakdown Lane
“There is no comparative value in the system anymore. It’s the equivalent of handing out candy at Halloween: Everybody gets some,” said Jason Levine, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety based in Washington, D.C. Grade inflation in school makes it difficult to distinguish who is actually achieving in the classroom. The federal…
Automatic emergency braking boosts safety but some complaints of false activations
“When they work, they are among the most revolutionary sets of safety technology that we’ve had in a long time,” said Jason Levine, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety… “We believe it’s a real safety concern when you’ve got brakes engaging when they shouldn’t be,” said Levine. “This should be a recall.”…
Write new rules for AV safety, NHTSA told
In comments submitted to NHTSA last week, the center questioned the agency’s choice to “prioritize a potential roll back of important protections afforded by the current Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.” The center says rollbacks would “accommodate the introduction of vehicle technology that is in its infancy and quite likely decades away from widespread practical…
NTSB cites driver error, Tesla Autopilot design in crash report
The Center for Auto Safety called on NHTSA to order Tesla to recall vehicles equipped with AutoPilot. “NTSB has done its job by thoroughly investigating this technology and this crash. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration must also now do its job and recall these vehicles,” the watchdog group said in a statement. “Today, NTSB…
Self-driving carmakers urge regulators to whiff the steering wheel out the window
Safety advocates are urging the NHTSA to take its time in deliberating these changes. For example, the Center for Auto Safety “strongly question[s]” the NHTSA’s decision to prioritize these rule changes considering self-driving cars are still in their “infancy and quite likely decades away from widespread practical utility.” The federal government should rewrite the safety…
As Automatic Braking Becomes More Common in Cars, So Do Driver Complaints
Automatic emergency-braking systems that are promoted as a safety feature in vehicles don’t always work as intended and at times activate when there is no risk of a crash, drivers say. Drivers have reported several hundred incidents to U.S. regulators in recent years of these brakes malfunctioning or not deploying properly, highlighting the challenges car…