There Auto Be A Law Center for Auto Safety

Mississippian Michael Brooks faces the fact that more car crashes happen in the South. But the data is a bit suspect as Massachusetts seems not to live up to it's reputation. Also Japanese automakers Toyota, Mazda, and Honda mishandling vehicle safety tests. This week Fred examines Tesla’s ambitious yet problematic GigaCasting manufacturing process and its implications on vehicle safety and repair costs. The hosts conclude with several nominations for 'Gaslight of the Week' and discuss the rising concerns over automated driving technology and vehicle manufacturing shortcuts that impact safety. +1 if you could tell that the last sentence was written by AI.
This weeks links:
https://www.autosafety.org/support-us/https://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/where-do-most-car-accidents-happen.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/03/business/japan-toyota-testing-investigation.htmlhttps://techcrunch.com/2024/06/03/gms-cruise-is-testing-robotaxis-in-dallas-again/https://www.ttnews.com/articles/advisory-underride-guardhttps://jalopnik.com/gm-hopes-a-clutch-pedal-is-enough-to-make-enthusiasts-b-1851498673https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/01/tesla-retreats-from-next-generation-gigacasting-manufacturing-process.htmlhttps://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V372-1533.PDFhttps://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V376-3527.PDFhttps://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V381-6004.PDFhttps://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V368-8061.PDF

California is proposing a bill to alert drivers to their speeding. Anthony suggests automatic tickets. Elon doesn't understand data or is flat out lying about the safety of Autopilot. Remote controlled trains remind us of GM Cruise. Miles per Gallon is not as helpful a measure as gallons per 100 miles and we discuss why AV companies don't follow the Department of Transportation's Technology Readiness Levels... which they helped write.
Mentioned Links:
https://amp.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/21/electric-cars-more-likely-to-hit-pedestrians-than-petrol-vehicles-study-findshttps://www.popsci.com/technology/cars-speeding-beeping/https://gizmodo.com/tesla-ev-autopilot-driver-assistance-safety-elon-musk-1851496656https://jalopnik.com/teslas-full-self-driving-isnt-doesnt-understand-new-yor-1851493822https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/27/us/train-safety-crashes-union.htmlhttps://www.vox.com/future-perfect/350382/gas-mileage-fuel-economy-mpg-gphm-gas-guzzlershttps://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/inv/2024/INIM-PE24016-13047.pdfhttps://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V358-2557.PDFhttps://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V361-1152.PDF

Artificial Intelligence is the pet rock of today... if the pet rock could hallucinate a term paper. Or in the case of auto safety cause stockholders to hallucinate a future where Tesla creates a robotaxi. This week Tesla is sued for fraud (clutches pearls) and a Waymo drives drunk through Phoenix. Congress goes after auto makers for handing over all of your data without a subpoena and using slave labor. In a new feature focused on gaslighting we talk about the nonsense from Jeff Farah, shill for the AV industry. Plus some recalls.
This weeks links:
https://www.autosafety.org/support-us/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/15/opinion/artificial-intelligence-ai-openai-chatgpt-overrated-hype.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/20/business/economy/senate-bmw-volkswagen-jaguar-land-rover-xinjiang.htmlhttps://www.autoblog.com/2024/05/15/lawmakers-call-out-eight-automakers-for-sharing-connected-vehicle-data/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/30/technology/regulators-investigate-carmakers-driver-tracking.htmlhttps://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/driverless-waymo-vehicle-glitches-while-driving-in-metro-phoenix-watch-the-video/ar-BB1mCGHohttps://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/05/tesla-must-face-fraud-suit-for-claiming-its-cars-could-fully-drive-themselves/https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/05/on-self-driving-waymo-is-playing-chess-while-tesla-plays-checkers/https://www.kuow.org/stories/whats-sending-the-first-generation-electric-cars-to-an-early-gravehttps://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V345-1575.PDFhttps://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V349-6099.PDF

Waymo keeps running into things and now NHTSA is investigating. Fred proposes a graduated licensing process for autonomous vehicles. 60 minutes Australia compiles a list of Elon Musk stating how self driving is ready next year but that next year never comes... maybe he's just a salesman? Tesla's automation software has been involved in 467 crashes, 13 of them fatal... and that is just in a 15 month period. Keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road.
This weeks links:
https://www.autosafety.org/av-bill-of-rights/https://www.autosafety.org/support-us/https://ieeetv.ieee.org/channels/ssit/self-driving-cars-the-good-the-bad-the-uglyhttps://apnews.com/article/selfdriving-vehicles-automated-government-investigations-0b43be102688f66590e6b9e76c0f5939https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/inv/2024/INOA-PE24016-12382.pdfhttps://www.getcruise.com/news/blog/2024/cruise-resumes-supervised-autonomous-driving-with-safety-drivers/https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-autopilot-probe-us-prosecutors-focus-securities-wire-fraud-2024-05-08/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcHtagqxPkIhttps://www.nicb.org/news/news-releases/new-report-imports-top-list-americas-most-stolen-vehicleshttps://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V321-1338.PDFhttps://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V318-2050.PDFhttps://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:d3f5e019-b65e-11ec-b6f4-01aa75ed71a1.0001.01/DOC_1&format=DOChttps://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:d3f5e019-b65e-11ec-b6f4-01aa75ed71a1.0001.01/DOC_2&format=DOChttps://www.gao.gov/products/gao-20-48g

That scrappy Tesla is still in the news for safety issues. NHTSA has requested more data about their Autopilot recall from December. With over 20 crashes since then there are some questions that need to be answered. And the DOJ and SEC are investigating them about their self driving claims. Drunk driving has been increasing but enforcement has declined. We discuss solutions that are available today but that manufacturers and Congress don't want to act on. Aurora is ready to put there self driving semi's on the road and this inspires Fred to come up with a new business idea. Michael suggests that the EPA regulate the fire retardants in cars so that we don't get exposed to horrible chemicals. Plus Recall Roundup.
This Weeks Links
https://www.autosafety.org/support-us/https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2024-05-08/exclusive-in-tesla-autopilot-probe-us-prosecutors-focus-on-securities-wire-fraudhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2024/05/04/tesla-autopilot-recall-crashes-deaths-nhtsa/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/05/07/tesla-autopilot-investigation-why-remedy-didnt-work/abb4dba6-0c61-11ef-ae0a-a6870885518d_story.htmlhttps://apnews.com/article/trucks-selfdriving-highways-automation-driver-083409631158f54d806d75309c4764e2https://apnews.com/article/selfdriving-semi-aurora-safety-autonomous-80a48dd862c33c62ad4284f0cf7591b5https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/drunken-driving-deaths-are-up-why-are-dui-arrests-down/ar-AA1o2mQAhttps://www.fastcompany.com/91120201/carcinogen-cars-interior-flame-retardant-chemicalshttps://ieeetv.ieee.org/channels/ssit/self-driving-cars-the-good-the-bad-the-uglyhttps://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V298-1454.PDFhttps://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V304-6178.PDFhttps://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V308-1849.PDF

NHTSA has finally released a rule for Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB). We've been asking for one since 2015 so... 3 cheers for NHTSA? But the rules don't go into effect until 2029. Ugh. On the plus side IIHS updated their AEB tests and car makers have a lot of work to do. We dive deep into AEB. And will 2024 be the year of the Tesla lawsuits? Maybe they shouldn't sell things with aspirational names like Autopilot when they keep crashing and killing people? Ford Blue Cruise is under investigation, Waymo says the bad driving of it's robotaxi was on purpose and we cover the latest recalls.
This weeks links:
https://www.autosafety.org/support-us/https://www.autosafety.org/av-bill-of-rights/https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/few-small-suvs-excel-in-new-iihs-front-crash-prevention-testhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywyCTIsNYis&t=3shttps://apnews.com/article/ford-blue-cruise-crash-investigation-deaths-4429651e132e3702a6a2a6a127aebbc2https://jalopnik.com/new-california-law-hopes-to-stop-robotaxis-from-dodging-1851447318https://futurism.com/self-driving-waymo-wrong-side-streethttps://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/federal-agency-investigates-effectiveness-of-recall-of-teslas-autopilot-systemhttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/tesla-s-autopilot-and-full-self-driving-linked-to-hundreds-of-crashes-dozens-of-deaths/ar-AA1nIyP0https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/28/tesla-trial-autopilot-lawsuit/https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V282-3386.PDFhttps://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V288-7983.PDFhttps://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/inv/2024/INOA-PE24011-11699.pdf