WASHINGTON – President Joe BidenThe nation’s highway safety agency executive choice pledged Thursday to strike a Deadly car accident crisis by implementing safety rules to prevent impaired driving while keeping a close eye on rapidly evolving automated technologies, such as in Tesla vehicles, that could put people at risk.
Steven Cliff, a former California pollution regulator, said he was “deeply concerned” about the unprecedented increase in the number of deaths from reckless driving in California. pandemic caused by corona virus.
He said if confirmed as the head National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, he will work to immediately apply regulations such as encouraging the use of seat belts and will perform duties in accordance with new infrastructure law for technologies to reduce drunken driving.
Cliff told the Senate Commerce Committee, referring to the trend of collapse.
He said the infrastructure law will help increase NHTSAThe budget’s budget is reduced by 50%, with the money being used to increase staffing and improve U.S. data collection to understand where and how incidents occur.
An estimated 38,680 people have been killed in traffic accidents in 2020, the most since 2007, even though total kilometers driven fell at the start of the pandemic. In the first three months of 2021, 8,730 people died in traffic accidents, up 10.5% over the same period last year.
The Associated Press reported in October that the agency is struggling with growing backlog of safety rules by order of Congress is many years overdue and could save thousands of lives. An AP review of NHTSA’s rule-making under the last three presidents found at least 13 safe car The long overdue rules, including a rear seat belt reminder requirement, were passed by Congress in 2012 and will be implemented in 2015.
Now the agency’s deputy manager, Cliff is expected to receive broad backing from the committee but faces delays in final confirmation, along with several other Department of Transportation nominations. carriage. Senator Rick Scott, R-Fla., said he will hold all Transportation and Commerce candidates until he receives more information from the Biden administration on efforts to fix supply chain delays. response of the United States. A “hold” prevents a motion from moving to the Senate floor and usually must be passed with 60 votes, a time-consuming process.
According to Cliff, NHTSA did the rewrite vehicle fuel economy standards reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The agency also forced tram Tesla sales leaders requested a vehicle recall to fix a blank touchscreen and opened an investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot partial autonomous driver assistance system after hitting a parked emergency vehicle.
Cliff on Thursday suggested that Tesla’s investigation could take months and declined to say what enforcement actions might be taken. But in a likely warning to its CEO, Elon MuskCliff emphasizes that the agency will not lose safety in the name of innovation. In recent months, the president of National Traffic Safety BoardJennifer Homendy, who has criticized Tesla, said that its description of “Fully Self-Driving” for its latest driver assistance system was misleading and urged NHTSA to act.
NHTSA is reviewing claims that Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” software nearly caused the problem. The company is allowing owners to test the software on public roads. And NHTSA is investigating why Teslas using the company’s Autonomous Driving system crashed into parked emergency vehicles even though their warning lights were flashing.
“I want to make it clear that none of the vehicles available for purchase today are capable of self-driving. Nothing can replace a thoughtful driver in today’s vehicles,” said Cliff, referring to the agency’s stance on enforcement. While future autonomous driving technology holds great promise in reducing auto accidents, he said, “for the time being, we cannot ignore safety.”
A message was left on Thursday seeking comment from Tesla, which has disbanded its media relations division. In the past, Tesla has said that neither “Full Self-Driving” nor Autonomous Driving are fully autonomous, and that drivers must be ready to intervene at all times. In January, Musk said he expects “Full Self-Driving” systems to drive more reliably than humans this year.
NHTSA, the organization that sets safety standards for vehicles, finds safety defects, manages remember and help develop government energy saving claim, there’s been no confirmed admin since Mark Rosekind left in late 2016. Auto safety advocates have called on Biden to put up a nomination so a confirmed admin can start. safety program implementation.
