Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Denver news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Des Moines news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Minneapolis-St. Paul news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Tampa Bay news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Charlotte news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Joann Muller (R) and Selika Josiah Talbott (L). Photo: Axios screenshot
A lack of federal policy has hampered the autonomous car industry's transparency with communities where the vehicles are tested, American University professor Selika Josiah Talbott said during a virtual Axios event on Tuesday.
What she's saying: "We need guidelines. Right now, it's like the Wild West. We need bumpers in place so we don't have rogue actions testing vehicles on the roadway and possibly causing harm to the general public," Talbott said.
The big picture: A patchwork of state laws on autonomous vehicles exists because "state by state, they have different implications for the use of their drivers license, for the revenue that these cities and governments get from our driving actions each and every day," Talbott said.
- Although the federal government has said it doesn't want to impede innovation, Talbott said that "from one state to the next, we don't know who's driving these vehicles or having these vehicles on our roadway, we don't know the crash rate of these vehicles."
- When driverless cars are tested in communities, people are often unaware. "We don't have PSAs out there, we're not informing the general public of what is happening in their neighborhoods and in their community," she said.
The bottom line: "When it comes to who should be acting and how they should be acting, we have a tug of war between localities and the federal government," Talbott said.