General Motors (GM) and Toyota, along with other automakers, are hoping that the U.S. government can ease up on its very strict policies regarding self-driving cars. Apparently, these lawful constraints are basically preventing automakers such as General Motors and Toyota to be able to develop vehicle technology at a good pace and automakers are asking the U.S. government to give the automakers more room to move.
What Needs To Be Changed
One of the biggest concern of automakers is the fact that they cannot put a bigger number of self-driving cars on the road for tests and this is what the automakers hope to change. "Without changes to those regulations, it may be years before the promise of today's technology can be realized and thousands of preventable deaths that could have been avoided will happen," said Mike Abelson, Vice President of Global Strategy at GM in a testimony as reported.
An Upcoming Bill
It would appear that there are Senators who support the automakers regarding the issue. According to a report, Michigan Democrat Senator, Gary Peters, and Republican Chairman of the Commerce Committee, John Thune, are currently looking into matters in legislation that would help clear the way for automakers to be able to develop a self-driving technology. It was mentioned that a bill will be jointly proposed by the abovementioned senators within the year.
What This Means For All Parties Concerned
Apparently, deploying self-driving vehicles with human controls is not that big of a problem but deploying fully autonomous vehicles is a whole different matter. It would seem that under the legal framework, this will not likely happen in the near future. As far as the automakers' concern of the U.S. government easing up on self-driving cars' restrictions, it remains to be seen whether the current cap will be increased. The consumers also stand to benefit in the advancement of vehicle technology and therefore, if the U.S. government eases up on its self-driving car policies, the sooner the consumers can be provided with convenience by the automakers.
