Autonomous car developers lobby to defang safety data regulations

The fast-rising autonomous vehicle industry is lobbying federal safety regulators to limit the amount of data companies must report every time their cars crash, arguing that the current requirements get in the way of innovation that will benefit the public. The industry’s efforts to make driving safer and more accessible are at risk of being “drowned out by misinformation, inflation or dubious data without context” under reporting rules issued last summer by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, says Ariel Wolf, general counsel for the industry lobbying group Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets. However, the coalition said, “There should be no delay in data collection to help ensure these advances are working safely.” The fight over autonomous vehicle crash data is a harbinger of fiercer debates to come as humans increasingly interact with robots and artificial intelligence technology increasingly pervades the culture, the economy and everyday life. “Researchers need this data, how these vehicles are interacting with and coexisting in the world with human drivers and other road users.” Under the NHTSA order, any vehicle equipped with driver-assist technology, such as Tesla’s Autopilot, and any company testing or deploying fully driverless robot cars must report every serious crash on the day it occurs. In its letter, the group said that “it is often standard procedure” to have robot cars towed away from even minor crashes “where the vehicle is rear-ended at low speed.” Whereas vehicles with driver-assist technology require reports only for serious crashes, companies testing or deploying driverless cars must also disclose any crash in a monthly report.