Driverless-Car Legislation Is Unsafe at This Speed

If this legislation, driven by Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, is enacted, it will increase risk and recklessness and destroy the trust of the motoring public. Without that trust, you can forget about driverless cars.

Mr. Thune’s bill would eviscerate vehicle regulations by allowing companies to sell potentially limitless numbers of driverless cars that would be exempt from established federal safety standards. This bill would also pre-empt states from exercising their own safety duties.

If auto lobbyists succeed, their worst nightmares will be realized as motorists become aware of the legislation’s contents. Mr. Thune’s bill neglects cybersecurity requirements to protect driverless cars from hacking—the kinds of cyberattacks, malware and data breaches that have occurred in other sectors of the economy. Without critically needed protections, hackers could seize control of a driverless car. In a best-case scenario, that would result in an annoying glitch in which the infotainment screen freezes. In a […]

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