Weird house bill permits up to 100,000 self driving cars per year

in #politics7 years ago (edited)

New bill from the US House of Representatives:

The House voted Wednesday to speed the introduction of self-driving cars by giving the federal government authority to exempt automakers from safety standards not applicable to the technology, and to permit deployment of up to 100,000 of the vehicles annually over the next several years.

Is this "permission" a limit? Why up to 100,000 annually? Why not allow more than this? Also it puts sole responsibility to control the design into the federal government without good explanation for why. On the one hand it would probably speed deployment if only one government agency had to be worried about but at the same time it also puts perhaps a bit more control into the federal government? Thoughts? Will we see a cryptocurrency bill next?

References

  1. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/house-passes-bill-speed-deployment-driving-cars-49654954
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I'm all for progress, but I have to draw a distinction with what you say here:

Is this "permission" a limit? Why up to 100,000 annually? Why not allow more than this?

You quoted the reason why in your post:

The House voted Wednesday to speed the introduction of self-driving cars by giving the federal government authority to exempt automakers from safety standards not applicable to the technology, and to permit deployment of up to 100,000 of the vehicles annually over the next several years.

We can't start ignoring public safety in our zeal to introduce self driving cars. All the testing has shown that these cars aren't ready to handle the beaten-up and haphazard roads that exist across the nation.

The truth is that we should support the improvement and standardization of our roads and highways so that self-driving cars can become feasible. We shouldn't, however, discard our safety standards and common sense so that corporations can try to rush their risky automatons onto our pubic roads and put our lives at risk for their profits.

Yeah but it's safer than human drivers. Car is never 100% safe.

Only the average human driver. I am absolutely positive I am in the top couple of % of human drivers.

I am not convinced these will be safer for me, but they will be safer for me if the other crappy drivers, like the one who ran a stop sign while typing on her cell phone and t-boned my Bike, are using them.

None of this is a disagreement with what you said, just sorta thinking out loud here.

Potentially safer. Its all about the implementation. You should have no doubt that the corporations eager to flood the roads with these self-driving cars and their servants in government would gladly sacrifice the safety of citizens if it earned them an extra nickle.

Everything what Government does is to "protect us stupid people".
So I'm sure what they are trying to do is to keep us safe. Or you guys, I'm not American, We have EU which regulates everything and protect us even from the sort of water throughput we can get from our showerheads and what kind of light we get from our lightbulbs.

Though maybe it also has something to do with Uber's plan to destroy tai industry and completely replace them with self-driving cars about which I learned yesterday.
https://steemit.com/til/@joewantsfreedom/til-uber-s-mindblowing-evil-plan-for-world-domination-of-at-least-the-transport-industry

I'd say you'd love the article referenced at the end and would make you think. You might even put a different spin on it which I'd prob. enjoy reading.

Our government can't even keep our water safe from toxins.

Cause they can't.
I'd say they don't even want to but hey, that's a judgement and I have no proof :).

Your government takes care of people at least sometimes) But this does not mean that they make reasonable decisions at all times

I came across your blog by accident, and I love your writing! You have a new follower!

this will take forever... lobbying by the oil companies

Auto insurance being mandatory, the real show stopper here is that no insurance will take the risk to insure a self driving car.