There Auto Be A Law – Details, episodes & analysis

This week we are joined by Missy Cummings, Director of George Mason University's Autonomy and Robotics Center. Missy walks us through the safety concerns with self driving cars based on your research, talks about the definition of 'safe enough', how laughable remote operations are and lack of functional safety testing.

This episode underscores the urgent need for both state and federal regulations to improve safety standards and accountability for autonomous vehicles.

Links

• https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=10778107
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/12/30/waymo-pedestrians-robotaxi-crosswalks/
• https://www.autosafety.org/support-us/
• https://apnews.com/article/autonomous-vehicles-safety-guidelines-voluntary-nhtsa-8fec0adfb3580eddbef92f4b32a0347d

NHTSA is wrapping up the new year with new rules for whistleblowers, event data recorders and seatbelt warnings. Waymo is the highlight for the 'Gaslight of the Week' due to misleading safety certifications for its autonomous vehicle program. Donald Trump is likely to scrap a rule on crash reporting for autonomous vehicles. Bench seats might be coming back. And recent automotive recalls and potential cybersecurity threats associated with software-defined vehicles.

• Donate to support this podcast
• https://www.wsj.com/articles/top-u-s-auto-safety-regulator-finalizes-whistleblower-program-rules-bd13316c
• https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/nhtsa-finalizes-seat-belt-reminder-rule-increase-seat-belt-use-improve-occupant
• https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2024-29862.pdf
• https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/trump-is-probably-going-to-kill-the-crash-reporting-rule-that-made-tesla-look-bad/ar-AA1vOXkA
• https://waymo.com/blog/2024/12/waymos-first-responder-program-receives-independent-safety-confirmation/
• https://www.tuvsud.com/en-us/resource-centre/white-papers/automated-driving-requires-international-regulations
• https://www.sae.org/standards/content/avsc-d-02-2024/
• https://www.sae.org/news/2024/11/cybersecurity-for-software-defined-vehicles
• https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a63183166/bench-seat-comeback/
• https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2022/RCLRPT-22V420-1957.PDF
• https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V918-4585.PDF
• https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V925-5571.PDF
• https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V920-3537.PDF

This week we debunk Elon Musk’s grandiose claims about Tesla's Robo Taxi, highlighting regulatory and safety hurdles, and the inflated value of Tesla’s stock driven by speculative products. Regulators can't seem to keep up with the new safety needs of autonomous vehicles and Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2X) but Gatik AI is making an effort by adopting UL4600. The EU states the obvious - the CyberTruck is for people that don't care about people and recall roundup.

This weeks links:

• https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/elon-musk-tesla-robotaxi-acfc5e3b
• https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/elon-musk-tesla-robotaxi-acfc5e3b
• https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/automakers-quickly-improve-seat-belt-reminders-in-response-to-iihs-ratings
• https://cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/protecting-connected-self-driving-vehicles-from-hackers
• https://www.ttnews.com/articles/gatik-ai-autonomous-audit
• https://www.wired.com/story/a-rubberized-cybertruck-is-ploughing-through-european-pedestrian-safety-rules/
• https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crl8187l920o
• https://www.npr.org/2024/10/09/nx-s1-5147420/honda-recall-steering-problem-civic
• https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V748-8424.PDF
• https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V739-1481.PDF

This week we are joined by Deb Prince. She is the chairperson of the UL 4600 group and program at Underwriters Laboratories.

As astute listeners will remember UL 4600 is the Standard for Safety for the Evaluation of Autonomous Products such as automated cars. Those Waymo and GM Cruise things that keep us entertained. If you want to be well informed like Fred you <a href="https://www.shopulstandards.com/ProductDetail.aspx?productId=UL4600_2_S_20220315">can get a copy here of UL 4600 online</a>.

Want to learn more about deer strikes? Read the Washington Post article, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/01/20/deer-car-collisions/">Fear the deer: Crash data illuminates America’s deadliest animal</a>.

A 17 year old special guests tells us why he wants a motorcycle, Fred explains physics to him and explains airbags to us. Plus Tesla is full of self driving.

This week we are joined by Mike Wagner and Ben Lewis from Edge Case Research.

They are working on making AV's safer and providing insurance to AV companies.

A Tesla survives a 250 cliff drop but still lies about full self driving, Anthony invents the car bidet, Fred explains exactly what that new car smell is and Michael has audio problems. Plus recall roundup

For the end of the year Michael Brooks runs down his list of new year resolutions... for others. In the new year we hope NHTSA becomes stronger, Tesla gets a new CEO, AV companies stop with the BS and Lucid learns to make a car.

It's not too late to make a tax deductible contribution.

Child labor at Hyundai, more Waymo and Cruise teenage years, Tesla forces arbitration on it's customers, Fred explains Santa, synthetic gasoline and the Recall Roundup.

Lexus and Hyundai are into fake shift, IIHS updates their crash test for EV's and back seat safety, Michael and Fred suggest that infrastructure can make us safer, people get high in order to drive drunk, another Takata death and recall roundup.

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