The industry's plea comes amid a lack of federal regulation for autonomous vehicles, leaving states to develop their own rules for safe deployment. The letter urges Buttigieg to initiate the rulemaking process on a proposed solution called AV STEP, which could allow more vehicles without traditional controls to be authorized. The recent incident involving Cruise, accused by California regulators of withholding video footage of a hit-and-run, has raised serious trust issues with AVs, with GM CEO Mary Barra acknowledging the need to "build trust" before redeploying cars.
Key takeaways:
- A coalition of lobbying groups has written to US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, urging him to support the development of autonomous vehicles (AVs) to prevent the US from falling behind China in the industry.
- The letter does not mention the recent issues faced by GM subsidiary Cruise, which had to ground its fleet after a crash involving one of its driverless cars, but focuses on the threat of competition from China.
- The federal government has largely left the regulation of AVs to individual states, and legislation that could increase the number of AVs on the road has been stalled in Congress for over six years.
- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed a potential solution called AV STEP earlier this year, which could allow more vehicles without traditional controls to be authorized without hitting the annual cap on exemptions. The AV industry is urging Buttigieg to start the rulemaking process on this.