Obama Regulators Rush Controversial Proposed Rule on Connected Vehicle Technology

Today, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) put forward its controversial proposed rule on vehicle-to-vehicle communications. CEI transportation expert Marc Scribner criticized the move and warned of safety risks ahead.

“It is extremely disappointing to see the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration try to push through its highly controversial proposed vehicle-to-vehicle communications mandate in the final weeks of the Obama administration,” said Marc Scribner, research fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. “The concerns that the Competitive Enterprise Institute raised to the agency in 2014 remain unresolved. As NHTSA readily admits, hypothetical safety benefits of the mandate will be trivial for the next 15 years, at which point far superior automated vehicle technology may be deployed to consumers. The only accomplishment of this all-pain, no-gain mandate will be a large misallocation of resources away from more promising safety technologies, along with possible delays in their introduction, which would result in more preventable highway crashes and deaths. The incoming administration should immediately withdraw this dangerous proposed rule.”

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