Deepika Agrawal 
Various groups representing autonomous vehicle (AV) companies in the US have written a letter to The U.S. Transportation Department (USDOT) seeking developmental support of self-driving cars, citing risk of losing out to Chinese competitors. “The AV industry is at a critical juncture and in need of strong leadership from USDOT,” the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, US Chamber of Commerce, Alliance for Automotive Innovation and others said in a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The letter said that self-driving cars could save thousands of lives annually by eliminating human errors like fatigued, impaired, and distracted driving. “The department’s support for AV development is crucial to maintain our nation’s competitive edge with countries like China aggressively investing and advancing the technology,” it added.
The US AV industry faces new challenges after an accident involving a Cruise robotaxi took place in October in California, after which the General Motors’ AV company has to pull its test vehicles from public roads. They were labelled as a risk to the public, following a series of accidents involving Cruise vehicles.
The company has come under regulatory pressure after it allegedly hid information related to the October accident. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating whether Cruise is taking sufficient precautions to safeguard pedestrians and has opened other safety probes as well.
Cruise’s woes are a significant setback for an industry dependent on public trust and the cooperation of regulators. GM CEO Mary Barra says Cruise must rebuild relationships with regulators.
What happened with Cruise is a significant setback for the industry which is quite dependent on public trust and the cooperation of regulators. GM CEO Mary Barra said that Cruise must rebuild relationships with regulators. Earlier this week, the company’s new president Mo Elshenawy had acknowledged that the robotaxi firm has hit an “all time low”, while promising to restore trust with public and regulators.
The autonomous vehicle unit of General Motors (GM) has hired a law firm to help it conduct a safety review after it pulled all of its vehicles off public US roads The external review of Cruise’s safety will last into the first quarter of 2024, GM CEO Mary Barra informed earlier this week. The company’s chief administrative officer, Craig Glidden, said that the current focus is on “resetting” the regulatory relationship and “building trust” and acknowledged “we still have a ways to go,” Reuters reported.
