There Auto Be A Law
Podcast Archive
Our podcast discusses auto safety issues and technological developments, in hopes of providing consumers and enthusiasts with a better understanding of modern vehicles, safety systems, and current issues in the industry.
Artificial Intelligence and Auto Safety with Phil Koopman – Part 2
We’re back with Phil Koopman to continue our discussion about AI and Auto Safety. Phil walks us through four crucial areas: safety engineering, security, machine learning, and human factors. Can large language models be used for safety? How do we acknowledge robot drivers? When does Fred return? All that and more in this episode. Donate…
Artificial Intelligence and Auto Safety with Phil Koopman – Part 1
Hey Folks, Fred it out for the next couple of weeks. In his place we sit down for an in-depth chat with Phil Koopman to discuss artificial intelligence and auto safety. Enjoy. Support the Show. Support Safety. This weeks links: https://www.autosafety.org/podcast/part-1-with-philip-koopman-and-william-h-widen/ https://www.autosafety.org/podcast/part-2-with-philip-koopman-and-william-h-widen/ https://philkoopman.substack.com/p/a-practical-list-of-embodied-ai-safety-b23
Volcano of Innovation
Hazardous robo-taxis, the government’s role in safeguarding—or failing to safeguard—the public and how to draw your own crosswalk is the TLDR. Bloomberg reporter Steve Man becomes an PR flak for Tesla, Sean P. Duffy updates the part 555 exemption process (also known as, Look ma, no pedals), Mitsubishi gets into battery swapping and recalls galore.…
Pollution is the new standard
Tesla is trying to hide their crash data, Sean P Duffy doesn’t enjoy clean air and wouldn’t it be great if safety standards were set globally? Plus recalls, EV fires on ships, the WSJ spouts nonsense and so does Waymo. Support the show! This weeks links: https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/trumps-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-announces-key-step-toward-making-cars https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/06/gop-intensifies-war-against-evs-and-efficient-cars/ https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/autonomous-farming-agriculture-equipment-california/3878319/ https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-08/waymo-vehicles-set-on-fire-protesters-police-clash https://newatlas.com/automotive/volvo-adaptive-seatbelt/ https://www.thedrive.com/news/elon-musks-tesla-cries-competitive-harm-over-self-driving-crash-data-disclosure https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/tesla-tries-to-block-access-to-public-records-ahead-of-austin-robotaxi-launch/ar-AA1Gh4z0 https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/travel/road-trips-self-driving-cars-ad501e2d https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2025/RCLRPT-25V357-7814.pdf…
The Big Beautiful Bill and why are AV’s on the road?
The Orange one has a big beautiful bill that no one seems to have read and undermines states to create their own rules around AI. This is not good for safety and a whole bunch of other reasons. Tesla is going to release their robo-taxi’s… popcorn at the ready. And no one can seem to…
Lightning strikes, MPG and wrong turn signals
Uh oh they are lowering corporate average fuel economy standards under the Trump administration and blame it on a fake news EV mandate. Aurora Innovation’s driverless semi-trucks go old school and bring back meat computers (aka Human Safety Drivers). Ford dominates recalls and more. Donate for safety! This weeks links: https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/us-expected-to-declare-biden-fuel-economy-rules-exceeded-legal-authority/ar-AA1F91lG https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/california-ev-mandate-auto-industry-64708033 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/why-cars-in-the-us-have-red-turn-signals-but-other-countries-use-amber/ar-AA1F4jtz https://www.ttnews.com/articles/aurora-driver-back-in-seat https://gizmodo.com/apples-new-carplay-ultra-wont-fix-the-biggest-problem-of-phone-connected-cars-2000602761…
Robo-Taxi’s and NHTSA asks Tesla some good questions
NHTSA has questions about Tesla’s robo-taxi and we pretty much have the same exact questions. Waymo makes the gaslight again and they get a recall too. Plus an update on New York’s congestion pricing and recalls. Support the show. This weeks links: https://electrek.co/2025/05/12/nhtsa-tesla-how-release-robotaxi-service-based-on-fsd/ https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/inv/2024/INIM-PE24031-62887.pdf https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/05/12/opinion/letters-to-the-editor-tesla-is-not-too-important-to-fail/ https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/05/02/opinion/tesla-evs-musk-new-ceo/ https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/05/11/upshot/congestion-pricing.html https://www.autoguide.com/auto/new-car-shopping-2/cars-from-these-brands-are-involved-in-more-accidents-44619526 https://www.msn.com/en-us/public-safety-and-emergencies/health-and-safety-alerts/connecticut-leaders-warn-about-dangers-of-hot-cars/ar-AA1EBEIq https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/general/doing-this-one-thing-with-your-steering-wheel-could-help-prevent-a-car-crash/ar-AA1EvjKs https://waymo.com/blog/2024/08/meet-the-6th-generation-waymo-driver/ https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/zoox-ebike-crash-robotaxi-safety-20313079.php https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2025/RCLRPT-25E034-2471.PDF https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2025/RCLRPT-25V297-4164.PDF https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2025/RCLRPT-25V294-8593.PDF…
Jeff Wishart levels with us about safety
This week we discuss the development and evaluation of automated vehicles (AVs) with special guest Jeff Wishart. We learn to differentiate between Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) for AVs and SAE’s driving automation levels. Plus recalls. This weeks links: https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/2025-01-8671/ https://www.gao.gov/assets/710/706680.pdf https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/accident-analysis-and-prevention/vol/207/suppl/C https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2025/RCLRPT-25E029-4731.PDF https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2025/RCLRPT-25V280-2880.PDF https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2025/RCLRPT-25V269-3442.PDF
NHTSA, Jeff Bezos and Redundancy… again.
NHTSA updates the standing general order for ADAS interventions and amazingly this helps Tesla. Jeff Bezo’s starts an electric truck company, electronic door handles still need a manual override, Fred repeats himself in the Tao and we’ve got recalls. Support the show! This weeks links: https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/trumps-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-unveils-new-automated-vehicle-framework https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/trump-updates-biden-s-robo-car-crash-reporting-rule-to-benefit-tesla/ar-AA1DyXJj https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/04/amazon-backed-startup-wants-to-sell-a-bare-bones-ev-truck-for-20000/ https://www.thestar.com/life/autos/technology-in-cars-is-being-used-to-make-choices-for-drivers-and-this-can-be/article_f835de30-f450-11ef-ad43-434b0d197953.html https://gothamist.com/news/feds-accidentally-publish-secret-plan-to-kill-nyc-congestion-pricing https://electrek.co/2025/04/28/ny-lawmakers-shut-down-teslas-stores/ https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2025/RCLRPT-25C006-4677.PDF https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2025/RCLRPT-25V274-1598.PDF https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2025/RCLRPT-25V259-8551.PDF https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2025/RCLRPT-25V270-9214.PDF…