Rhea Mahbubani

Driverless Cars Get Powerful Boost, Thanks to the Feds

The federal government is on board with driverless cars — but with caveats.

That’s the message sent out by the Department of Transportation by calling driverless cars among “the most important achievements in the last 100 years,” but also stressing passenger and cyber safety.

Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx on Tuesday released guidelines for autonomous vehicles, pointing to companies like Google and Uber as well as to manufacturers like Ford and General Motors.

Foxx said the newest report is “the most comprehensive automated vehicle policy the world has ever seen,” admitting that the guidelines are still more recommendations than hard-and-fast rules.

So far, so good, it seems.

Even Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court, a longtime driverless car critic, deemed the new plan “definitely a step in the right direction.”

It will take awhile, but it seems driverless cars are getting closer by the mile.

Scott rolls on Twitter: @scottbudman

Contact Us