For all the talk of free markets and self-regulation, we are forced to observe that little to no market has proven to self-regulate itself well. Despite its rhetoric, autonomous vehicle (AV) companies proclaim working towards industry standards while acting otherwise behind the scenes.
The Far, Far West Of The Self-Driving Industry
Every new industry starts in a state of relative chaos. This wild far west is akin to the pioneers working their way towards California. A hodgepodge of various motivations and ideals drive a few people to invest in an uncertain future.
After a few publicly revealed accidents, the AV scenery is slowly changing, pondering its future and how to negotiate its early start in perhaps different ways than just a few years ago.
No matter how we look at AVs, self-driving cars won’t likely be sold to consumers in currently normal ways — at least, not generally. They will be part of fleets, municipal and private, and will harbor our city streets as TaaS (Transportation as a Service). But this also raises the question, how will they evolve and who will finance those services? Let’s pray we don’t end up in another wild frontier of advertising wonderland.
In a recent article, ArsTechnica basically said that upon closer examination of the Waymo, Cruise, and Uber AV efforts, none of them are planning to sell those self-driving cars to the public, but instead to fleet owners. Those AVs are designed as driverless taxis. The article concludes that, basically, riders will buy the AV one ride at a time, in a matter of speech.
The fatal self-driving car accident in Tempe, Arizona shows yet again something we’ve been saying for a long time, at some point car regulations will have to be forced. The federal government’s involvement means that self-driving cars will be safe from the moment they are assembled. Last month’s fatal crash only highlights the safety complexities of a driverless taxi service are much more than the simple physical features of the cars themselves.
“Keep Your Eyes On The Road, Your Hands Up On The Wheel!”
Jim Morrison of The Doors said it well 50 years ago and it is still true today — perhaps even more, sadly so. Add to this a desperately pathetic political landscape with the current administration’s dangerous minimal-regulation philosophy. And no matter how you look at it, neither Democrats nor Republicans can address the self-driving car safety issues.
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