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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday July 20 2017, @10:09PM   Printer-friendly
from the patchwork-quagmire dept.

Reuters has published that

A U.S. House panel on Wednesday approved a sweeping proposal by voice vote to allow automakers to deploy up to 100,000 self-driving vehicles without meeting existing auto safety standards and bar states from imposing driverless car rules.

Representative Robert Latta, a Republican who heads the Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee overseeing consumer protection, said he would continue to consider changes before the full committee votes on the measure, expected next week. The full U.S. House of Representatives will not take up the bill until it reconvenes in September after the summer recess.

The measure, which would be the first significant federal legislation aimed at speeding self-driving cars to market, would require automakers to submit safety assessment reports to U.S. regulators, but would not require pre-market approval of advanced vehicle technologies.

Automakers would have to show self-driving cars "function as intended and contain fail safe features" to get exemptions from safety standards but the Transportation Department could not "condition deployment or testing of highly automated vehicles on review of safety assessment certifications," the draft measure unveiled late Monday said.

[...] States could still set rules on registration, licensing, liability, insurance and safety inspections, but could not set self-driving car performance standards, under the proposal.

[...] Auto dealers want the final bill to clarify that the measure would not preempt state dealer franchise laws that generally bar automakers from selling vehicles directly to consumers.

I can understand why an autonomous test vehicle doesn't need seat belts but is taking away the ability of a state to regulate this new technology a good idea? What do you think?


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @10:16PM (11 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @10:16PM (#542082)

    Seriously, only the Space Race can out do Driverless Cars as an issue the US Gov has tried to push through. I really don't get it, there has to be something else at work here. Why such broad sweeping approvals that fly in the face of logic, reason, and the general antagonism that most new tech gets?

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Bot on Thursday July 20 2017, @10:23PM (6 children)

    by Bot (3902) on Thursday July 20 2017, @10:23PM (#542085) Journal

    > Why such broad sweeping approvals that fly in the face of logic, reason, and the general antagonism that most new tech gets?

    because angry citizens armed with two tons of steel on wheels is more dangerous than angry pedestrians.

    Everything the elite does is about control.

    Always beware of countermeasures put in place before the crisis is even defined.

    --
    Account abandoned.
    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Lagg on Thursday July 20 2017, @10:47PM (3 children)

      by Lagg (105) on Thursday July 20 2017, @10:47PM (#542093) Homepage Journal

      When I read this comment I was reminded about a point in the last month when reports of people being rammed off sidewalks were rather common. Yet no commentary on what the actual numbers and precedence are [wikipedia.org] - and in one case it was just an old lady that old lady'd at a very tragic time.

      I don't know if I actually would place this as the "something" happening. But I could pretty easily see the government looking to put car DRM all up in your ass and convince the media that car ramming is something that should now be aggressively reported on. it's a certainty they want some kind of remote lock on the cars. Because they want that for everything ever.

      --
      http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
      • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday July 20 2017, @11:21PM (1 child)

        by Grishnakh (2831) on Thursday July 20 2017, @11:21PM (#542099)

        The problem with this idea is that driverless cars are still some ways away; we might have them sooner for interstate highway driving, but there's still many problems on chaotic city streets. Moreover, even if we had great ones tomorrow, it'll be some time before all the non-driverless cars go away. People aren't going to trash the $30k car they just bought last year for scrap value. If the government mandated this, people would be in the streets with pitchforks and torches.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @05:25PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @05:25PM (#542473)

          If they go on the streets they'll be easy targets for the robotic vehicles.

      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday July 21 2017, @03:10AM

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 21 2017, @03:10AM (#542160) Journal

        But I could pretty easily see the government looking to put car DRM all up in your ass

        Yes, because the hackers are really impressed [soylentnews.org] by USian DRM regulation; so impressed they'll even refrain from selling the tools to the (maybe state-sponsored) terrorists when offered cash in modicum 5-6 figures amounts.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday July 21 2017, @08:22AM (1 child)

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Friday July 21 2017, @08:22AM (#542271) Journal

      I agree with you and Justin Case downthread, but gosh i sure would like an autonomous car. Driving is a chore. I don't even do it on a daily basis like most people, but having to navigate people who don't know how to merge or refuse to merge or who tailgate relentlessly or slalom in and out of lanes or undertake any number of dangerous behaviors like texting while driving takes years off my life. And that's in local traffic. When in a national park or surrounded by a charming coastal scene i'd rather take in the view than watch for potholes or moose.

      Can't there be a happy medium, or do we all have to hack together our own AI vehicles to make sure we know every bolt and line of code?

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @03:43PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @03:43PM (#542419)

        > When in a national park or surrounded by a charming coastal scene i'd rather take in the view than watch for potholes or moose.

        Hmmm, some obvious solutions include taking the scenic tour bus through the park. And stopping at the scenic pullover parking areas to enjoy the view. No high-tech solution needed...you can do these things now!

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Thursday July 20 2017, @10:46PM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday July 20 2017, @10:46PM (#542092) Journal

    Corporations are pushing it through. Governments are deciding what to do about regulating it.

    Driverless cars are a big deal that could reduce traffic deaths and wipe out hundreds of thousands of jobs.

    Driverless trucks are a bigger deal (said to be impossible due to liability concerns and the complexity of moving loads, but we'll see) since there is a permanent nationwide shortage of truck drivers. Especially those with more than 2-3 years of experience, no accident record, hazmat certification, etc.

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @12:35AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @12:35AM (#542115)

    They printed so much money they need grows; desperately. If they don't get grows soon all bets are off (see WWI WWII). But they don't know where to get it from. Therefore they will approve anything even remotely promising to spark something new and big. (the best of course would be a space alien attack since Russians are not biting)

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @05:22PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @05:22PM (#542471)

      Are "grows" the same as growth?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @09:00PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @09:00PM (#542570)

        > Are "grows" the same as growth?

        That's what I guessed. ESL bug.