LOS ANGELES – Consumer Watchdog has joined an alliance of more than 75 local, state and national organizations representing safety, law enforcement and first responders, public health, bicyclists and pedestrians, engineering, environmental and consumer groups, disability communities and families affected by motor vehicle crashes calling on the Senate to oppose a flawed autonomous vehicle bill. 

SANTA MONICA, CA – New California autonomous vehicle regulations released today by the Department of Motor Vehicles will turn testing robot cars into a deadly video game that threatens highway safety, Consumer Watchdog warned.

“A remote test operator will be allowed to monitor and attempt to control the robot car from afar,” said John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog Privacy and Technology Project Director. “It will be just like playing a video game, except lives will be at stake.”

SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today backed a proposed city ordinance that would ban self-driving robot cars from the streets of Chicago unless the federal government enacts enforceable safety standards for autonomous vehicles.

The nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group added that testing autonomous vehicles would be appropriate if adequate safeguards were in place, including a trained human test driver behind a steering wheel and brake pedal.

SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today called on California’s seven members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to block proposed federal legislation that would undo California’s ground-breaking safety regulations covering the testing of autonomous vehicles.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- Consumer Watchdog today called on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to promptly adopt enforceable federal safety standards covering self-driving autonomous vehicles and warned that if the federal efforts stall, states must act immediately to fill the void and protect consumer safety.

SANTA MONICA, CA -- Consumer Watchdog today called on Congress to ensure the adoption of federal safety standards to cover self-driving autonomous vehicles and warned that proposed House legislation that would pre-empt state safety regulations “would leave a regulatory void without meaningful safety protections.”

In a formal statement filed with the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection for its hearing Tuesday on self-driving legislation, Consumer Watchdog’s John M. Simpson warned: