The hiring surge comes amid signs of nervousness among the public about the safety of self-driving cars, even as the industry pushes for federal approval to push the technology onto more streets and highways. Half of U.S. adults think autonomous vehicles are more dangerous than human drivers, according to a recent. And safety advocates fear that the industry executives will use their government experience to undercut or soften proposed laws and rules.
The flurry of hires may be meant to signal the industry’s commitment to internalizing safety — but former NHTSA administrator and lifelong safety advocate Joan Claybrook worries that the ex-government officials’ primary mission will be to teach their new employers how to skirt regulations. “This technology is posing really serious challenges that companies are grappling with, and a lot of the people you mentioned, those are safety experts,” said the staff member, who works for a lawmaker who has been heavily involved with crafting self-driving car legislation. “So if I’m a company who’s looking to tackle a serious challenge that’s going to take years and years and years to do, I’m going to hire somebody who is knowledgeable about safety.
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So, oil and gas execs are worried they'll be copied.
Weird, the company who says they’ll have 1 million autonomous taxis that will appreciate and have a residual value of $250K wasn’t mentioned once. 🤔