Author of Unsafe at Any Speed Says Uber’s California Initiative and Federal Fong Amendment Threaten Decades of Auto Safety Progress
Los Angeles, CA — Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, whose landmark 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed helped launch the modern auto safety movement, today released an open letter to Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi (opens in new tab)condemning the company’s efforts to limit legal accountability for crashes involving rideshare drivers and autonomous vehicles.
In the letter (opens in new tab), Nader argues that Uber’s California ballot initiative and the federal amendment sponsored by Congressman Vince Fong would weaken longstanding legal protections that have held automakers and technology companies accountable for dangerous products and defective vehicle systems.
“Sixty years ago, the publication of Unsafe at Any Speed exposed a simple but consequential truth: when corporations are allowed to evade accountability for dangerous products, the public bears the cost in preventable deaths, injuries, and suffering,” Nader wrote
Nader warned that Uber is seeking liability protections at the same time it accelerates deployment of robotaxis and autonomous vehicle partnerships across the country.
“Uber is actively pursuing legal and legislative changes in California and at the federal level that would weaken its accountability for injuries and deaths tied to its platform and the autonomous vehicle systems Uber is now rapidly deploying,” Nader wrote. “These efforts are not technical adjustments to litigation rules. They represent a fundamental attempt to undermine the rights of injured people and reduce corporate responsibility at the very moment rising autonomous systems are being tested on public roads at scale.”
The letter highlights Uber’s push for federal legislation sponsored by Representative Vince Fong (Bakersfield, CA) that would limit the company’s legal exposure for crashes involving drivers using its platform.
“Uber’s efforts in California are now being mirrored in Congress through the amendment sponsored by Representative Vince Fong, cynically advanced during a 2 AM House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee vote over Memorial Day weekend,” Nader wrote. “That amendment would provide sweeping protections for Uber against liability arising from crashes caused by drivers operating on its platform.”
Nader argues that weakening liability protections would be particularly dangerous as autonomous vehicle technology expands. He points to the 2018 death of pedestrian Elaine Herzberg, who was struck and killed by an Uber autonomous vehicle in Tempe, Arizona, as evidence of the need for strong legal accountability when autonomous systems fail.
“The lesson of the last sixty years is clear: accountability produces safety. Immunity produces casualties,” Nader wrote.
Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court said Nader’s warning reflects growing concern that Uber is attempting to shield itself from responsibility just as it expands its robotaxi ambitions.
“Ralph Nader helped create the accountability system that forced automakers to make cars safer and saved countless lives,” said Jamie Court. “Uber is trying to weaken that system at the precise moment autonomous vehicles are being rolled out on public roads. Nader’s message is simple: if Uber believes its technology is safe, it should be willing to stand behind it in court.”
Nader concludes the letter with a direct challenge to Uber’s leadership: “If you claim your technology is safe, you should not fear a legal system of accountability.”
