The Artemis II mission was incredible. We can do big things and do good things for the country and the world, when we work together and stand up for each other.

There is nobody under the age of 55 who remembers seeing astronauts return to earth like this

Happy Wednesday, folks.

In a spectacular example of how broken the public process is, I am spending yet another evening in Half Moon Bay where, 2 years after originally approving it, the council is once again debating the 555 Kelly affordable housing project for senior farmworkers.

🧵

"No government in the world has been able to establish a truly objective performance requirement to meet the strict criteria of FMVSS, but doing so is important to ensure public safety and provide a stable and predictable environment where the technology can grow and develop here in the US." 2/2

Huge news drop for federal AV policy:

"I’m pleased to announce NHTSA is working towards establishing minimum performance standards for automated vehicle competency," says NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison.

"This is not easy." (1/2)

Secretary Duffy also announced that he just approved the next tranche of updates to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) to remove unnecessary requirements for AVs.

“If we don’t have a driver, do we need windshield wipers? Do we need components to defog a car windshield?”

Secretary Duffy announced NHTSA is opening comments on the first-ever commercial deployment of a steering wheel-free AV for passenger service with the Zoox robotaxi, beginning to allow scaled deployment of AVs with novel designs – improving safety and provide regulatory certainty to move forward.

“Over the last year, we’ve began work on a single AV framework. We can’t have 50 rules, 50 states, and think our AV companies can scale with all these different rules. We should have one American standard,” says Secretary Duffy @usdot.bsky.social.

🧵 Good morning from the National AV Safety Forum at
@usdot.bsky.social headquarters.

Today we’ll learn about NHTSA's latest work on autonomous vehicle safety and hear conversations with leading American AV developers including @waymo.bsky.social, Zoox, Aurora, and Gatik.

Highlights in thread ⬇️

Thanks, I’ve seen the letter - response here: bsky.app/profile/greg...

Markey conflated the two terms (assistance and operator/driver) in his naming, but I concede the first page was correctly defining one type - remote assistance, even if incorrectly labeled.

Yet the letter still applies the risks of remote operation to remote assistance.

@wmata.com is, hands down, one of the best perks of living in the DC area.

Markey unfortunately missed the mark and conflated terms here...

bsky.app/profile/greg...

The reality is that AVs are held to far higher standards for cybersecurity - Ed's thread has more about CAN bus isolation: bsky.app/profile/greg...

Distracted driving has caused our traffic safety progress to plateau, notes Senator Lummis, proceeding to highlight the safety advantages of AVs. She notes the fears all parents feel (🙋‍♂️) about their children's safety in and around cars.

“It’s freedom for old people and safety for young people.”

Truly concerning when a U.S. Senator who wants to reform automotive regulations conflates two separate technologies into one.

bsky.app/profile/greg...

Thanks for checking in, have a great day!

Remote assistance (responsible AV companies' approach): AV maintains full control, asks trained specialist how to proceed, but makes sure it's safe.

Metaphor: A passenger tells a driver to turn right at the light, but the driver is going to make sure the light is green and crosswalk is clear.

Moreover, a total of 7,314 pedestrians were killed in 2023 and 68,000 were injured in 2023.

We need a stronger, all-of-the-above safety strategy: infrastructure interventions, #VRU infrastructure, reliable mass transit, and safer driving for those who ride in cars.

www.nhtsa.gov/road-safety/....

Let's start with human-driven vehicles.

In 2023 alone, 1,019 children were killed in traffic crashes and at least 125,000 more were injured.

That means, on average, human drivers killed 2 children and injured at least 345 more every day.

explore.dot.gov/views/DV_FAR...

Ed has it exactly right here: AVs have a far, far higher standard of cybersecurity than what you'll see in passenger vehicles today.

You wouldn't believe how many people willingly plug devices of questionable provenance into their USB - and *shudder* OBDII ports.

bsky.app/profile/nied...

"One example is by designing the safety critical systems in the vehicle to be protected from external connections, so you cannot actually hack into it, connect to it. Driver testing, we do extensive evaluation of cybersecurity issues," says Mauricio Peña @waymo.bsky.social.

Senator Kim asks about cybersecurity of #autonomousvehicles:

"Cybersecurity is a very important part of our safety framework, and we take a number of measures to identify vulnerabilities, performance assessments and then mitigate those vulnerabilities," says Mauricio Peña @waymo.bsky.social.

One thing keeps coming up: despite all the fears of AVs replacing human drivers, the industry is creating well-paying jobs for Americans in this emerging technology.

The ugly truth is: Surrendering U.S. leadership in AVs means surrendering American jobs and the future of transportation to China.

Advancing autonomous vehicles is a public health imperative, as Dr. Jon Slotkin wrote in @nytopinion.nytimes.com.

bsky.app/profile/nyti...

@peters.senate.gov entered this article into the record to highlight how AV technology is critical for the health and safety of Americans.

"China is investing heavily in dominating the autonomous vehicle market, so I believe it's absolutely imperative that we take action to ensure that American innovation and American standards lead the way on the world stage," says
@peters.senate.gov.

"It's a matter of protecting good paying American jobs. Congress cannot be silent on a technology that will literally shape the future of mobility," argues @peters.senate.gov, urging his colleagues to pass #autonomousvehicle legislation.

AVs can make the roads safer for everyone - especially vulnerable road users #VRUs.

Compared to human drivers, Waymo's safety data from 127 million rider-only miles shows that the technology is meaningfully reducing crashes and serious injuries.

waymo.com/safety/impact/

On Transit Equity Day, Waymo announces a public transit credit program in LA Today – on Transit Equity Day – Waymo is kicking off a transit credit pilot program in Los Angeles.

For example: Waymo is already working to connect AV riders with high-capacity public transit services to encourage multimodal transportation in large metropolitan areas.

Waymo incentivized riders to take transit in LA and SF, and is researching how to do it even more!
waymo.com/blog/2025/02...

Meanwhile, Professor Bryant Walker Smith argues that he can't yet hail an AV in London, but he can cross the street on foot.

His strawman is an AV industry that argues it's a panacea for all safety and mobility challenges.

Skeptics and cynics love to repeat this falsehood.