"At the same time, there are real safety benefits to self-driving cars having steering wheels. There were a number of incidents last year when Waymo or Cruise vehicles got confused at the scenes of car crashes, fires, or other emergency situations. One way to deal with these situations is for a police officer or firefighter to hop into a vehicle, take manual control, and drive the car where it needs to go... [this will] become less necessary over time. But it doesn’t seem like such a bad idea to keep steering wheels in self-driving cars for at least the first few years."
I understand the appeal of incrementalism, and the value for safety. I do!
But there is a hidden cost with keeping the steering-wheel requirement, which is it locks in "automated driving as a feature for personal vehicles" as the default. The critical path that sets up is one where most people continue to own their own car. If we want other kinds of automated driving—not merely robotaxis, but automated delivery vehicles, automated transit—we need to permit experimentation with form factor... not as a 'nice to have' in the future, but as part of the first wave.
Not for nothing is Zoox (and Tesla with its Cybercab) coming hard out of the gate with a custom vehicle; Cruise wanted to do the same. They think, and I believe correctly, that robotaxi in a conventional vehicle will fail to achieve the value necessary to overcome traditional automobility.
This is a good point, and I'm particularly sympathetic to it for delivery vehicles, since those have the potential to be significantly smaller and cheaper if they don't need space for a driver to sit. Like I said I'm ambivalent, not opposed—I just worry that they could replace the steering wheel requirement with something worse.
Musk has a bigger problem than whether the lack of a steering wheel makes the car illegal. He'd have to prove his car is safe without a driver.
Cutting corners with self-driving cars does not work, which Cruise found out the hard way. Tesla just doesn't have what it takes in terms of its tech, unlike Waymo.
Yes, I agree that Tesla is likely to face other problems, like not being able to get FSD working reliably, that could make these FMVSS issues moot, at least through the end of Trump's presidency.
I think the most important help would be what you mention at the end: 'I can imagine a Republican Congress preempting strict autonomous vehicle regulations in blue states like California and New York.'
And I agree: coupled with sensible guidelines about handling emergency situations this would help not only Tesla, but everyone.
The question of whether a self-driving car has a steering wheel should not matter. After all, Waymo cars have driven millions of miles without someone having immediate access to one.
So what the NHTSA is currently doing (looking the other way) is ok. It would be great if they act with more transparency by stating the reasons why they opened the investigation into Zoox, and why they now close it.
As I noted in my post, first responders do occasionally get into a Waymo vehicle and use the human controls to move the vehicle in emergency situations. I'm not sure how often this happens.
I hope that there are better solutions to handle emergency situations than requiring pedals and steering wheels. The fact that reports about Waymo vehicles getting into trouble seem to have gone down while the number of trips increased substantially is encouraging.
"At the same time, there are real safety benefits to self-driving cars having steering wheels. There were a number of incidents last year when Waymo or Cruise vehicles got confused at the scenes of car crashes, fires, or other emergency situations. One way to deal with these situations is for a police officer or firefighter to hop into a vehicle, take manual control, and drive the car where it needs to go... [this will] become less necessary over time. But it doesn’t seem like such a bad idea to keep steering wheels in self-driving cars for at least the first few years."
I understand the appeal of incrementalism, and the value for safety. I do!
But there is a hidden cost with keeping the steering-wheel requirement, which is it locks in "automated driving as a feature for personal vehicles" as the default. The critical path that sets up is one where most people continue to own their own car. If we want other kinds of automated driving—not merely robotaxis, but automated delivery vehicles, automated transit—we need to permit experimentation with form factor... not as a 'nice to have' in the future, but as part of the first wave.
Not for nothing is Zoox (and Tesla with its Cybercab) coming hard out of the gate with a custom vehicle; Cruise wanted to do the same. They think, and I believe correctly, that robotaxi in a conventional vehicle will fail to achieve the value necessary to overcome traditional automobility.
This is a good point, and I'm particularly sympathetic to it for delivery vehicles, since those have the potential to be significantly smaller and cheaper if they don't need space for a driver to sit. Like I said I'm ambivalent, not opposed—I just worry that they could replace the steering wheel requirement with something worse.
Something worse? Oh dear... THAT had not occurred to me.
Let's keep watching closely!
Musk has a bigger problem than whether the lack of a steering wheel makes the car illegal. He'd have to prove his car is safe without a driver.
Cutting corners with self-driving cars does not work, which Cruise found out the hard way. Tesla just doesn't have what it takes in terms of its tech, unlike Waymo.
Yes, I agree that Tesla is likely to face other problems, like not being able to get FSD working reliably, that could make these FMVSS issues moot, at least through the end of Trump's presidency.
I think the most important help would be what you mention at the end: 'I can imagine a Republican Congress preempting strict autonomous vehicle regulations in blue states like California and New York.'
And I agree: coupled with sensible guidelines about handling emergency situations this would help not only Tesla, but everyone.
The question of whether a self-driving car has a steering wheel should not matter. After all, Waymo cars have driven millions of miles without someone having immediate access to one.
So what the NHTSA is currently doing (looking the other way) is ok. It would be great if they act with more transparency by stating the reasons why they opened the investigation into Zoox, and why they now close it.
As I noted in my post, first responders do occasionally get into a Waymo vehicle and use the human controls to move the vehicle in emergency situations. I'm not sure how often this happens.
I hope that there are better solutions to handle emergency situations than requiring pedals and steering wheels. The fact that reports about Waymo vehicles getting into trouble seem to have gone down while the number of trips increased substantially is encouraging.
Who will be legally responsible for the safe operation of an FMVSS vehicle? The riders(?), the manufacturer, the Federal government?
Waymo takes legal responsibility for its vehicles. I would hope Tesla will do the same but I don't think they've announced details about this yet.
I expect Tesla to not do that. They are very comfortable with the owner of vehicle being responsible.
I think FMVSS was adopted in 1967, and for all I know the owner is responsible.
The more interesting question about Tesla's business model is how insurance companies will treat the Cybercab in terms of premiums.