U.S. Warned on Rush to Deploy Autonomous Vehicles

April 11, 2016—Industry and consumer representatives on Friday warned U.S. auto safety regulators that their push to aid autonomous car deployments may be too aggressive. Automotive News reported that the advocates urged greater transparency and public input in policies covering autonomous technology. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) held the first of two public input hearings on Friday as it prepares guidance on autonomous vehicle implementation, which it said it would have prepared by July.

Paul Scullion, safety manager at the Association of Global Automakers, a trade group representing Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co., Hyundai Motor Co. and other major foreign automakers, said the NHTSA “should not bind itself to arbitrary, self-imposed deadlines at the expense of robust and thoughtful policy analysis. The NHTSA should instead consider the development incrementally."

The industry and consumer safety advocates are the latest groups of several that have warned U.S. regulators about the risk of premature autonomous vehicle deployment.

Google is expanding its autonomous vehicle testing and Tesla Motors’ upcoming Model 3 will have standard Autopilot, a semi-autonomous feature which is already available on all Tesla models.