U.S. Transport Secretary Elaine Chao stated on Sunday she was examining self-driving vehicle guidance released by the Obama administration and advised companies to discuss the benefits of automated vehicles to a hesitant public.
The guidelines, which were released in September, call on car manufacturers to willingly send information of self-driving car systems to regulators in a 15-point “safety assessment” and advise states to accept the government on a lot of vehicle policies.
Car manufacturers have raised numerous concerns about the guidance, consisting that it requires them to turn over substantial information, might postpone testing by months and lead to states making the voluntary guidelines obligatory.
In November, significant car manufacturers advised the then-incoming Trump administration to re-evaluate the standards and some have called for substantial modifications. Car manufacturers contacted Congress earlier this month to make legislative modifications to speed self-driving cars to U.S. roads.
Chao, in her first significant public remarks since taking office in January, informed the National Governors Association: “This administration is assessing this guidance and will seek advice from you and other stakeholders as we update it and modify it, to guarantee that it strikes the right balance.”
She stated self-driving automobiles could dramatically enhance safety.
In 2015, 35,092 individuals passed away in U.S. traffic crashes, rise of 7 percent and the highest full-year increase since 1966. In the very first 9 months of 2016, deaths were up 8 percent.
elaine chao, noting research that 94 percent of traffic crashes involved human mistake, said: “There’s a lot at stake in getting this technology right.”
She stated the Trump administration wanted to ensure it “is a driver for safe, efficient innovations, not an obstacle. In particular, I want to challenge Silicon Valley, Detroit, and all other vehicle industry centers to step up and help educate a hesitant public about the benefits of automated technology.”
Companies such as Alphabet Inc’s self-driving automobile Waymo, General Motors, Ford Motor, Uber Technologies, Tesla Inc and others are strongly pursuing automated automobile technologies.
