A Toyota Motor Corp official on Tuesday raised issues about California’s plans to require compliance with a prepared U.S. self-driving automobile safety check list, calling it “preposterous.”.
Hilary Cain, director of innovation and innovation policy at Toyota Motor North America, criticized California’s proposition to require automakers to submit the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) 15-point security check list prior to testing vehicles.
“If we do not do exactly what’s being asked of us voluntarily by NHTSA, we can not test an automated system in the state of California. That is unbelievable which suggests testing that is happening today might be halted which indicates testing that will be started might be delayed,” she stated at a Capitol Hill forum.
On September 30, California revealed revised guidelines that automakers will need to accredit that they adhered to the 15-point NHTSA assessment instead of self-driving vehicles being needed to be checked by a third-party, as in the original proposal.
California would enable the absence of a human driver and a steering wheel in sophisticated self-driving vehicles, provided there is two-way interaction with the vehicle and NHTSA approval. California is going to hold a public hearing on the proposition October 19.
President Barack Obama wrote a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette op-ed last month stated the administration is asking automakers “to sign a 15-point safety checklist showing not just the government, but every interested American, how they’re doing it.”.
Cain likewise raised issues about whether the NHTSA standards are too vague. “The issue is there is going to be responsibility and there is going to be enforcement,” Cain stated, adding in some locations NHTSA requires to provide more particular guidance. “We have to go through this with a fine tooth comb.”
Previous NHTSA Administrator David Strickland, who now represents self-driving supporters consisting of Alphabet Inc’s Google system, Ford Motor Co and Uber Technologies, raised issues at the forum about whether NHTSA has the know-how to examine all of the data they are looking for on self-driving vehicles. Congress might have to “better resource the agency to handle this brand-new mission,” he said.
