THE MORNING SHIFT

Cops Want To Be Able To Shut Off Self-Driving Cars

David Tracy
Today 10:00am Filed to: THE MORNING SHIFT

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1st Gear: U.S. Regulators Struggling To Decided If Authorities Should Be Able To Shut Off Self-Driving Cars

It’s more than just technology that’s holding back self-driving cars from becoming a widespread reality, it’s infrastructure: not just physical, but also legislative. Among the issues still on the U.S. government’s table as last March is whether authorities should be able to shut down a self-driving car remotely, with Reuters discussing a recently-released 39-page report:

In closed-door meetings last March, U.S. transportation regulators and others grappled with questions about whether police should have the power to disable self-driving cars and whether an automatic alert that a robo-taxi had been in a wreck could violate an occupant’s privacy, a report released on Tuesday showed.

The theme of the meetings was to discuss “legal, safety and social issues” associated with autonomous cars, and among those present, the news site reports, were representatives from the U.S. Department of Transportation, as well as “industry, labor, and advocacy groups.”

While law enforcement representatives mentioned that they might like the ability to control self-driving cars, a number of meeting participants were apparently concerned that such capability would give hackers a way in, with Reuters writing:

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