Automotive News: Federal government must act to curb self-driving tests on public roads, enact stronger oversight in AV START Act

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

It is painfully obvious that we -- and the U.S. government -- should not continue to allow car companies to use our streets and highways as if they are a private proving grounds intended solely for their use.

The use of public highways for unproven technology is foolhardy and reckless.

With all the automotive proving grounds that exist in the U.S. it simply does not make sense to continue to allow autonomous vehicles to be tested on public roads.

But what's even more important is that the federal government assure that these vehicles adhere to federal safety standards that have been around forever.

For some reason, the government and the manufacturers seem to be in cahoots to exempt autonomous vehicles from the same safety standards that exist for every other vehicle on the road today. Indeed, legislation before Congress would allow manufacturers to operate tens of thousands of cars with exemptions from many existing safety standards.

Link: 

Automotive News: Federal government must act to curb self-driving tests on public roads, enact stronger oversight in AV START Act

MoBikeFed comment: We have been working with bicycle and pedestrian groups as well as traffic safety advocates from across the country to encourage Congress to include a "driving test" in the proposed driverless vehicle regulations that are currently under discussion in the Senate.

Both Missouri senators play a key role in the "AV START Act" and you can contact them about this issue in just a few minutes:

http://p2a.co/Oy2UjKv

Based on our conversations with Senate staff, your voices ARE being heard in Washington, DC. But we need to keep up the pressure on our elected officials on this issue.