Last year, General Motors said it hoped to publicly launch a driver-less autonomous vehicle that featured no steering wheel or pedals before the end of 2019. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration killed those hopes and dreams, though, with the safety agency not awarding GM the proper federal exemptions to test the prototypes in public streets. GM later delayed the launch of the Cruise robotaxi service past 2019, as well, with the company saying its AV is still under development and not yet ready for market launch.
GM isn’t giving up, though. The automaker is currently holding talks with NHTSA hoping to obtain a petition that will allow for a certain number of driverless cars without steering wheels or pedals to drive on public streets. The petition was filed by GM back in January of 2018 and seeks approval for up to 2,500 fully driver less vehicles. The NHTSA is hoping to move forward quickly with the petition and says it will “definitely” be able to provide GM with an answer on the matter by next year.

Cruise prototype
Acting NHTSA administrator James Owens told Reuters that NHTSA officials and him are “crawling through these petitions,” carefully to ensure they are at least as safe as vehicles being driven by humans. The safety agency knows the automotive industry has been too optimistic with regard to the development and launch of autonomous vehicles, as well, and is hesitant to rush technology to market that may not be ready.

Cruise AV Concept interior
“I think the complexity (of AVs) was far greater than what a lot of very optimistic advocates were thinking,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao told Reuters.
A report published earlier this year outlined some of the problems riders have experienced in a Cruise self-driving vehicle, including random vehicle shut offs and jerky braking/acceleration manoeuvres. The same report said the cars were slow, with the average trip in a Cruise AV taking about 80 percent longer than a trip with a human driver at the wheel. GM’s own internal data also indicates its AV is currently about 5-10 percent as safe as a human driver.
GM has faced backlash from safety advocate groups for its steering wheel-less cars, as well. Earlier this year, the Center for Automotive Safety (CAS) submitted formal complaints with NHTSA over the matter, calling on it to not allow GM to test autonomous cars without a steering wheel or pedals. CAS believes AV technology should be tested on closed courses until the safety matures, reducing risk to the public.
It’s not clear when GM plans to launch its fully automated, driverless Cruise robotaxi, though we imagine it will be hoping to get the business online sometime in 2020Â – even if only in a small area as a beta test. If its initial testing phase is successful, Cruise may one day be bale to ramp up and deploy in a number of cities, with the company serving as a driverless alternative to apps like Uber and Lyft.
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Source: Reuters
Comments
No steering wheel means General Motors assumes full responsibility for every accident such a vehicle is involved with because the owner of the car would say, no steering wheel equals no responsibility; meaning GM would need to pay massive penalties for every accident these vehicles get into as the insurance fees could drive GM out of business.
This is an ambulance chasers dream.
I hate the litigious world we live in, but if my family member or I are ever involved in an accident with an AV, you bet your a** there WILL be a lawsuit. If you don’t want to drive your car, hire a chauffeur, take a taxi, bus, plane or train. It will free up the road for those of us who buy a car because we like to drive!
News flash GM: Nobody is interested in this “technology.”
The goal of getting the driver out of the car to make is safer is a crock. If safety is TRULY the name of the game, there will be as many redundant controls as possible with these drones including a licensed driver ready to take over when the inevitable glitch occurs. Heck, without a steering wheel, you could not even maneuver the drone to the side of the road to clear traffic or push it into a garage for service.
Come on! Who exactly are you trying to buffalo here? You are not interested in saving lives. It’s all about the money and always has been and always will be. As stated above if you truly were interested in saving lives there would most certainly be redundant controls or a steering wheel to take over when the self driving crap goes awry, which it most certainly will. I have been in this business far too long to be insulted like this!