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President Trump Reportedly Skeptical Of Self-Driving Cars

A new report from Axios reveals President Trump is just as skeptical of self-driving cars as regular Americans. However, while Trump may thing self-driving cars are dangerous, his  Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is moving forward with an open mind about new technologies. At the SXSW conference, Chao announced a new regulatory body designed to speed up adopting new cutting edge technologies such as self-driving cars. That doesn’t change the fact Trump appears skeptical about driverless cars.

According to the news outlet, “Trump has acted out scenes of self-driving cars veering out of control and crashing into walls.” President Trump also thinks autonomous vehicles make little sense, even saying he’d never trust a computer to drive him around. When Trump met Tesla CEO Elon Musk in 2017, Trump allegedly told Musk he prefers “traditional cars” when the two were discussing Tesla’s Autopilot technology. 

General Motors Cruise AV

While President Trump has allegedly been vocal about his distrust of self-driving vehicles, he’s taken a hands-off approach in policymaking decisions regarding the technology. However, one Axios source said he thinks it wouldn’t take much for Trump to reverse his administration’s more hands-off approach to regulating the technology. The source added Trump could use negative press coverage to solidify his position. 

News of Trump’s skepticism comes as the U.S. Department of Transportation moves GM’s petition to operate its fourth-generation Cruise AV self-driving vehicle, which lacks manual control such as a steering wheel and pedals, into the public comment phase. For the next 60 days, anyone can comment on GM’s request to circumvent current Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards that require manual controls in vehicles operating on U.S. roads. 

Without little federal regulations in place for self-driving cars, a patchwork of state laws has governed their development. The right federal regulations could speed up development of self-driving vehicle going forward; however, federal regulators could hinder development, too, giving the process more red tape than what’s arguably needed. 

Anthony Alaniz was a GM Authority contributor between from 2018 thru 2019.

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Comments

  1. As do I. Smart man but he needs to re-thing the “hands off” approach as above in the article as we are nowhere near ready for this insanity.

    Reply
  2. People need to understand we’re no where near self-driving cars, we don’t even have the infrastructure in place…

    Reply
    1. “we don’t even have the infrastructure in place”

      But it already is in place. Autonomous cars can read and identify road signs and road markings, as well as identify other cars and pedestrians. It’s not fool-proof, but the autonomous car sees the same road infrastructure that you can see.



      And that’s just from 4 years ago.

      Reply
  3. I think everyone needs to cool down a bit. Self-driving does not mean buy a car and punch in any destination. Like SuperCruise it needs maps of all intended roads it’s going to drive on. This is little more than the next phase of testing. So in places it’s already testing they would remove the drivers. These are places with little rain and no snow.

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  4. I am not remotely interested in automation or robotics. AS old fashioned as this may sound, I would think the manufacturers would be promoting putting driver’s education in schools and introducing generations to the freedom and joy of driving safely and confidently . Promoting their existing products would seem to make more sense than gambling on a tech that may or may not be accepted.

    Reply
  5. Well Trump is an expert on automobiles – “And I looked, and every single car out there, even the really expensive ones that the Secret Service uses — and believe me they are expensive — I said, ‘Do they all have wheels?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Oh. I thought it was medieval.’ This can’t be disputed.

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  6. Can you imagine a self-driving sports car? It’s like having sex while you’re asleep. Where is the experience in that?

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    1. It actually has serious potential with sports cars. Just imagine traction control only on steroids: the driver can do his thing, but when he gets over his head the car can step in.

      Someday an automaker will set a track record with an autonomous car and then everyone will want one.

      Reply
  7. Here is the problem.

    In a perfect world autonomous cars totally work and 737 max don’t crash. The problem is we do not live in a perfect world.

    We are a good ways away from a perfect world.

    We can have self driving cars but we still need the drivers to be alert and engaged. There are still too many variables and not all cars are autonomous so nearly anything can happen and not all of it is programmed in.

    The other issue is the legal aspects of this. Say the programming fails, who is at fault the mfg, the owner of the vehicle etc. there is much to work out here. To be honest getting the car to function is much easier than working out the legal aspect.

    Next the issue will be the moral aspect. Say a vehicle is on a road with a cliff. It reaches a point where it is forced to either hit another vehicle head on. A biker on the side of the toad or go over the cliff. The programmer will make that decision for you and they will have no way to know how to lessen the impact if it presents its self.

    We will see more and more application of these technologies in vehicles but they will remain driver engaged. Areas with no drivers will be set routes say at Disney world busses or st plants or inter city routes.

    And as trump pointed out the cost will be high for a while.

    One last thing to consider. Once you give up control you could easily be putting yourself in the hands of the goverment as to where you can go, when you can go and how fast you can go. Do you really want to put your full travel freedom in the hands of people like Trump, Warren, Biden, Beto, Pelosi, Romney or Bernie?

    Regardless of your views you are at risk of control by those you oppose. Let’s face it they read your post on the web, see what you watch on TV as well track your vehicle and phone already. Now you give them the wheel?

    Reply
  8. Stable genius.

    Reply
  9. What used to be a cool music festival has devolved into a massive marketing slugfest.

    Elaine Chao speaking @ SXSW?

    Keep Austin weird, indeed.

    Reply
  10. I’m disappointed the new Cadillac XT6 will not have Super Cruise. Wanted to get one.

    Reply
  11. Just the rename the tech ‘Ivanka’ and then he’ll love like a pornstar

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  12. EVERYONE is skeptical… geeeshh…. what about insurance and liability… I say it’ll never happen…

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  13. It’s good to get out of the classroom and tech degrees and into the soil. It is quite possible to think one is wise, but actually be a fool. Thank God some people have sense to not want to live in an artificial world.

    Reply
  14. It actually has serious potential with sports cars. Just imagine traction control only on steroids: the driver can do his thing, but when he gets over his head the car can step in.

    Someday an automaker will set a track record with an autonomous car and then everyone will want one.

    Reply
  15. Reply
  16. Mfg, question. Do you want to sell me a mass transit robotaxi with all the upselling content stripped out, and be on the hook for unlimited liability forever?
    Mfg: No.

    Reply

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