WEBVTT

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You're listening to There Auto Be A Law, the

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Center for Auto Safety podcast with Executive

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Director Michael Brooks, Chief Engineer Fred

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Perkins, and hosted by me, Anthony Cimino. For

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over 50 years, the Center for Auto Safety has

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worked to make cars safer. Hey, listeners. Today

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is Wednesday, April 15th, 2026. Pay your taxes.

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Yeah, I guess. So doing this podcast, you get

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to listen to your own voice and you're like,

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oh, God. But no, it doesn't sound as good as

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this podcast. RFK Jr. has a podcast. That brings

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us about, doesn't it? Yeah, so I have an amazing

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voice. But that's not what this show is about.

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This show is about safety and auto and wonderful

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things like that. I'd like to start off this

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week with an opinion piece from the New York

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Times. And no, this is not a nonsense opinion

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piece, at least in my opinion. My opinion about

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an opinion piece. No, this is one talking about

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where did all the affordable cars go? Basically,

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it talks about how the auto industry has shifted

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from having in the late 70s, early 80s, these

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account boxes, which sounds kind of derogatory,

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but they were good cars. That got good fuel mileage

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and were affordable for people. And they've switched

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it over to, hey, you know what? We can sell less

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cars, higher profit margins, and make them more

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dangerous. And that's essentially been their

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business model. And it talks about how there's

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fewer and fewer cars available at the $20 ,000

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price point. There's fuel available under $30

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,000. The average vehicle is over $50 ,000 now,

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which is insane. It's worth checking out this

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article. The one thing that jumped out at me

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that blew me away was it talks about the Honda

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Civic that first hit the market in 1973, and

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it had up to 54 miles per gallon. It got 54 miles

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per gallon in 1973. That's what – how are we

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going backwards? I mean, I get our current cafe

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standards are ridiculous now, but it's – What

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is it supposed to be right now? Is it even 30

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miles a gallon? Average across the fleet, yes.

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But, you know, that doesn't mean every vehicle,

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obviously. Sure, it does. But like the I mean,

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come on, the average from a vehicle from 1973,

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if that vehicle is getting 54 miles per gallon,

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it is 2026. Sure, we don't have a flying cars,

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but there's no reason. I mean, before before

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Cafe was completely dismantled. We were looking

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at a average by 2031 of about 50 .4 miles per

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gallon. Yeah, that's that's not happening anymore,

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though. Well, at least, you know, under the Trump

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administration, whether we see a return to cafe

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and the emissions restrictions that we saw prior

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to this administration remains in question. Yeah,

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it's mind blowing to me that we used to have

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good things and these are cars that. A Honda

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Civic from 1973, you could probably easily throw

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150 ,000 miles on it before it would die. Now,

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I mean, I guess a lot of cars now, as long as

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you're not buying American -made vehicles, you

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can easily get over six figures in terms of mileage,

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and they'll be fine. But good luck affording

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them. Well, I'm not sure about one of the things

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you said, which is that cars now are more dangerous.

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I at the time I owned a Ford Pinto. You know,

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that's my reference. Yeah. Also, you were the

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one driving it. I was. Well, they've switched

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to, you know, larger SUVs is that's the thing.

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And people some we know with the rollover issues

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that they were designed more dangerous, not intentionally.

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I guess we'd say they're less safe because there

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are increased gaps in compatibility. And vehicle

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sizes and weights on the road. Right. So might

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be might be another way of saying that. That's

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another way that and also people think I'm in

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this giant car. I'm protected. Let's text and

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drive. I don't know if that I don't know if the

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logic is exactly like that. But, you know, I

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you certainly see people who want to buy larger

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vehicles to protect their family members. You

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know, that's something I've heard. you know,

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ad nauseum from friends and neighbors over the

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years that, you know, they don't want their child

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driving around in a tiny fuel economy based vehicle.

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That's an awesome car. The kind of car I would

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drive because they're worried, you know, that

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their kid's going to get in a crash and they're

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not going to be as protected. And, you know,

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that's something that has, you know, that's not,

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they're not crazy. I mean, that's something I

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think even the Insurance Institute looked at

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that and came to the conclusion that, you know,

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yes, if you were in a larger car, you were, you

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know, obviously going to be affected less if,

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you know, you crash into a Honda Civic and you're

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in a, you know, GM Hummer. Physics, you know.

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rule in this world. And, you know, there's really

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no getting around that. In a smaller vehicle,

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and, you know, most crashes, you know, the great,

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not wouldn't say majority, but a very large percentage

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of crashes are one vehicle crashes. So it's not

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a matter of compatibility in a lot of situations.

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But when there are situations where two vehicles

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are colliding, the big one is going to inflict.

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generally inflict much greater damage on the

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smaller vehicle. What do you mean by one car

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crash? Like it's someone driving into a light?

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Like a run off the road. Yeah, yeah, that kind

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of thing. That's the majority of crashes? It's

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not the majority of crashes, but it makes a significant

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proportion. I want to say 30 to 40 percent. But,

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you know, readers or listeners, correct me if

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I'm wrong on that. People could be reading the

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transcripts that are listening to this. And if

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you're reading the transcript, isn't artificial

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intelligence amazing? Yeah, 52 % in 2023 were

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single vehicle crashes from IHS. There we go.

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That's amazing. Yeah. Anyway, check out this

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article. It's pretty, I think it's pretty neat.

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Pretty well done. I would look at, you know,

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and the guy, you know, there's solutions proposed

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here, right? There's one sentence here where

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the guy proposes basically a system that could

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work. And his solution is ultimately. We need

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to allow Chinese vehicles into America and allow

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them to compete with Detroit. We've been subsidizing

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Detroit, bailing Detroit out for too long. And

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there's been numerous policies over the last

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few decades that have benefited Detroit automakers

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at the expense of foreign automakers. And, you

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know, he says, you know, allow Chinese automakers

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to enter the U .S. market provided a few things,

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right? Here's the conditions. They got to make

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their cars in the United States. obviously that

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could be done. Japanese, German, other manufacturers

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are doing that. don't allow their costs to be

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subsidized by the Chinese government. So you

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remove kind of that government subsidization

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that Detroit is so scared about because they

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don't think that they can compete with China

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in that regard. And then three, which is really

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important to us and to everyone and to people

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who don't even care about vehicle safety, but

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are more concerned about China becoming a world

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superpower, make Chinese automakers satisfy security

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concerns with regard to digital communications?

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And that would cover, you know, privacy, cybersecurity

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and other issues that I think a lot of us have

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concerns about when it comes to China. I would

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totally check out one of these Chinese made vehicles.

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They're pretty cool looking. Yeah. And Canada

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is doing this now, right? You know, they they've

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kind of lost a little faith in the United States

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as a partner. And, you know, and. They had a

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100 % tariff on Chinese vehicles, and they're

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reducing that to 6 .1%. So Canadians are going

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to be driving all these cool little BYD vehicles

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that Jim Farley at Ford was going on and on about.

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He has a little love affair with the Chinese

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cars a couple of years ago. Farley's also, you

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know, in an article notes, you know, that Ford

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has signaled that it's in preliminary talks with

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Chinese automakers and looking at joint ventures

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to actually get some. Fuel economy is one thing,

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but get vehicles out onto the roads in America

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that we can afford and that are priced at and

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under $20 ,000 versus $50 ,000 for vehicles with

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a lot of convenience features that some of us

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don't care about and don't want. Michael, could

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I go to Canada, buy one of these Chinese vehicles,

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bring it to the U .S., get Virginia plates, and

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then go 150 miles per hour in D .C.? You would

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have to – you can't go 150 miles per hour in

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D .C. I'm conditioning. I didn't say I was legal.

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But you would have to – I think you'd have to

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apply for some type of exemption to bring a foreign

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vehicle in the United States and register it.

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Kind of like what Jim Farley did when he brought

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his Chinese car into America, right? What did

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he do? He recalled 100 ,000 Ford vehicles. He

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brought, I think it was a BYD vehicle into the

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United States. And to do so, you know, since

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the BYD is manufactured for the Chinese market

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and Chinese safety standards, you have to apply

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for an exemption from the Federal Motor Vehicle

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Safety Standards in order to import it into the

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United States. Well, Anthony, you're a well -known

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podcaster. You're wealthy enough to ignore the

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law, right? That's what all your peers are doing

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up there. Palm Beach. Yeah, I just need the last

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four digits of your social security number again.

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It didn't come through again. One, two, three,

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four. Perfect. That sounds good. So listeners,

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if you want to import a Chinese vehicle, go to

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autosafety .org and click on donate. Then after

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you donate, yeah, I don't know, figure out how

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to import a Chinese vehicle. We're not going

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to help. And ultimately, we don't want, I mean,

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I'll throw this article, and I don't know that

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any of us really want them imported. In that

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sense, we want them built in America so that,

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you know, it's supporting American jobs, right?

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Moving on to American jobs, let's talk trucking.

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60 Minutes, we got a link to this video, the

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entire video, or you can read the transcript,

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too. We'll put a link to that. They do this whole

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piece on trucking fleets that are basically ghost

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fleets. This was scary as can be. You can go

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ahead. And if you're in, was it Slovenia? Is

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that where they were? Serbia? It's all over the

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place where they're coming from. India as well.

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So you can start a trucking company, get into

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a bunch of problems and then just quickly reapply

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and get a different Department of Transportation

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number. Just change your ID and get out there.

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And what these trucking companies do. So trucking

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is regulated. Like you only can drive a certain

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number of hours. And we've discussed this because.

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Obviously, safety. We don't want people driving

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more than I believe it's 11 hours. They're required

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to have a mandatory break. And so these companies,

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part of the things they do is they evade that

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law. So they're forcing drivers to drive even

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longer, which makes it more dangerous. They're

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skirting as many laws as possible and just keep

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changing. They're kind of the center of this.

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And I think Rob Carpenter, who is I want to say

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he's some type of consultant in the trucking

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industry. I believe he's a former gaslight winner

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as well for his views on underride guards. But

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he did a pretty good job explaining this to 60

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Minutes of how, you know, a carrier can register

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with the federal government, rack up, you know,

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tons of violations and then just, you know. do

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a chameleon, do a shape shift and register under

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a new name and erase all those safety violations

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and keep going, which is obviously a horrible

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way to allow, you know, trucking companies to

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operate, any company to operate, frankly. And

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it's something that, you know, has gone on in

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all sorts of industries involving safety for

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a while. I mean, I think the first. The first

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time I heard of such a thing was I think it was

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cab drivers in certain cities, you know, creating

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lots of shell companies to get out from under

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financial obligations to lawsuits they had been

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engaged in, that kind of thing. So this is kind

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of like it shouldn't be surprising that we're

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seeing this kind of behavior when it's allowed,

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because it's something that a lot of corporations

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do to avoid liability all the time. kill the

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corporation, bankrupt it, and then restart it

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somewhere else without being followed by all

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of the bad things you did. And it's something

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that could be, I think, easily corrected by the

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Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration by

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doing their due diligence on who owns and operates

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these trucking companies. Yeah, I found it fascinating

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that you can set up a trucking company in Serbia,

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never even enter the United States, and run a

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trucking company in the United States. It's bizarre.

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Is there other industries where you can do this?

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Probably. The internet? Well, the internet doesn't

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drive down my street, okay? At least last I checked.

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Not yet. Hey, doesn't this kind of put the lie

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to... One of the arguments for self -driving

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heavy trucks that truck drivers are hard to find.

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Seems like this scammy company has no trouble

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finding truck drivers who are well -qualified

00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:06.179
to drive. Yeah, they backed down from it. I think

00:14:06.179 --> 00:14:08.059
it was recently when we were looking at another

00:14:08.059 --> 00:14:10.659
issue in the trucking area. It may have been

00:14:10.659 --> 00:14:13.960
around autonomous trucks where the industry is

00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:17.980
now claiming that it's not that they're having...

00:14:18.519 --> 00:14:21.299
a hard they're not there's not this employment

00:14:21.299 --> 00:14:23.500
crisis in the trucking industry that they would

00:14:23.500 --> 00:14:26.139
have you believe um and that that's been bad

00:14:26.139 --> 00:14:28.279
information that you know the trucking industry

00:14:28.279 --> 00:14:31.539
was was once supportive of that idea but now

00:14:31.539 --> 00:14:34.879
not so much with this i i okay so i understand

00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:36.639
these companies are playing the shell game but

00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:39.820
there's a limited number of drivers and if the

00:14:39.820 --> 00:14:42.960
driver you know is working more than 11 hours

00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:45.000
sure the company's at fault but so is the driver

00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:47.320
for going beyond this But then the driver getting

00:14:47.320 --> 00:14:50.740
into crashes and accidents and whatnot, I imagine

00:14:50.740 --> 00:14:53.580
they're losing their ability to drive a truck

00:14:53.580 --> 00:14:57.000
or no. I think it's going to completely depend

00:14:57.000 --> 00:14:59.620
on the state. But yeah, I mean, you're being

00:14:59.620 --> 00:15:02.279
tracked as a driver as well. I'm not sure how

00:15:02.279 --> 00:15:05.179
the I do know that there are some federal regulations

00:15:05.179 --> 00:15:08.399
around that as well. But I think and based on

00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:10.820
what we've seen with some of the crashes, I was

00:15:10.820 --> 00:15:12.940
at Massachusetts a few years back where they

00:15:12.940 --> 00:15:15.659
weren't tracking drivers at all. And they had

00:15:15.659 --> 00:15:20.059
a driver who was on meth and all sorts of other

00:15:20.059 --> 00:15:22.779
things who had kind of a history that, you know,

00:15:22.779 --> 00:15:24.950
they weren't they weren't. They weren't even

00:15:24.950 --> 00:15:27.590
– even after violations, they weren't kicking

00:15:27.590 --> 00:15:31.629
bad drivers off the road. So that's probably

00:15:31.629 --> 00:15:33.509
something that the state and federal government

00:15:33.509 --> 00:15:36.289
could both be doing a much better job on. So

00:15:36.289 --> 00:15:38.509
me as a typical driver, I'm driving down the

00:15:38.509 --> 00:15:43.110
road. I see a big rig. What do I do? Do I Google

00:15:43.110 --> 00:15:44.750
the company and be like, hey, is this a real

00:15:44.750 --> 00:15:47.850
company while I'm driving? No, I mean – What

00:15:47.850 --> 00:15:51.889
do we do as consumers? I, what can you do? I

00:15:51.889 --> 00:15:53.610
mean, it's kind of like when you, when you, every

00:15:53.610 --> 00:15:56.190
time you pass a Tesla, are you going to, you

00:15:56.190 --> 00:15:59.269
know, worry that they're driving on full self

00:15:59.269 --> 00:16:02.389
drive and that, you know, they could, you know,

00:16:02.389 --> 00:16:04.710
make a mistake. That's the robot can make a mistake.

00:16:04.769 --> 00:16:08.070
It's going to kill you. My experience with truckers

00:16:08.070 --> 00:16:09.870
is that, that, you know, and I think the stats

00:16:09.870 --> 00:16:12.090
kind of bear this out is that, that, you know,

00:16:13.470 --> 00:16:17.129
They're safer operators of vehicles than most

00:16:17.129 --> 00:16:19.350
Americans. I don't think that they're you know,

00:16:19.350 --> 00:16:22.509
it's not like there's some kind of super safety

00:16:22.509 --> 00:16:24.610
crisis in the trucking industry where they're

00:16:24.610 --> 00:16:27.730
driving as bad as your average human in a car

00:16:27.730 --> 00:16:30.190
on the road. But when they do make mistakes,

00:16:30.350 --> 00:16:32.490
the consequences can be so destructive that,

00:16:32.509 --> 00:16:34.090
you know, we've got to hold them to a higher

00:16:34.090 --> 00:16:38.330
standard. And so I don't know that it's necessarily,

00:16:38.509 --> 00:16:41.570
you know. Some of these problems that they're

00:16:41.570 --> 00:16:44.129
talking about in this article may be driver problems,

00:16:44.289 --> 00:16:46.210
but they could also be serious problems with

00:16:46.210 --> 00:16:50.350
maintenance. If you're operating a trucking company

00:16:50.350 --> 00:16:52.850
from a foreign country, I've got to think that

00:16:52.850 --> 00:16:56.809
you're probably not dialing down on the maintenance

00:16:56.809 --> 00:16:59.210
and safety inspections and all the other things

00:16:59.210 --> 00:17:01.309
behind the scenes that don't involve the driver.

00:17:01.490 --> 00:17:05.769
So bad safety records are not just a driver thing.

00:17:05.950 --> 00:17:08.809
They're in how you maintain, how you load your

00:17:08.809 --> 00:17:12.359
cargo. how you maintain your vehicles, how, you

00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:16.099
know, what kind of, what kind of stuff are you

00:17:16.099 --> 00:17:18.380
hauling and the problems that individual things

00:17:18.380 --> 00:17:20.839
can create. There's just so many things to that.

00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:24.920
Well, Michael, when I do drive past a Tesla and

00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:26.960
I look over and I see the driver with that tiny

00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:30.299
little mustache, I, I take note and keep going,

00:17:30.359 --> 00:17:32.920
get out of the way. I mean, you know, and we've

00:17:32.920 --> 00:17:34.940
talked about it and Fred has advocated for, you

00:17:34.940 --> 00:17:37.420
know, when a vehicle is operating on their autonomy,

00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:39.839
you know, putting a light on or something. You

00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:41.220
know, I think we've talked about maybe a blue

00:17:41.220 --> 00:17:44.140
light. I think Mercedes had a... Teal. Turquoise

00:17:44.140 --> 00:17:47.000
light. Yeah, turquoise light. Yeah, that notified

00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:49.839
other drivers as to the vehicle status so that,

00:17:49.859 --> 00:17:52.200
you know, people could be prepared for things

00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:56.099
like, you know, short stops and other weird stuff

00:17:56.099 --> 00:17:58.980
we see with partial autonomy and full autonomy.

00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:02.460
Well, speaking of bad driving and Teslas, I'm

00:18:02.460 --> 00:18:05.690
jumping right into my gas light. So the Europeans,

00:18:05.829 --> 00:18:09.230
we look to the Europeans as, hey, they've got

00:18:09.230 --> 00:18:11.849
sophisticated things. They look healthier than

00:18:11.849 --> 00:18:14.509
us. They've got health care. Look at them talking

00:18:14.509 --> 00:18:16.890
those foreign languages fluently. It's impressive.

00:18:17.430 --> 00:18:20.789
Well, up until recently, they did not allow Tesla

00:18:20.789 --> 00:18:23.690
full self -driving because they're again, they're

00:18:23.690 --> 00:18:26.470
like, we fell for this once before. Let's not

00:18:26.470 --> 00:18:29.529
do this again. But unfortunately, the Dutch.

00:18:30.109 --> 00:18:33.069
Have said, OK, we're going to allow this, but

00:18:33.069 --> 00:18:35.009
you got to drivers have to pass a quiz first.

00:18:35.490 --> 00:18:38.710
So Tesla put in something called full self -driving

00:18:38.710 --> 00:18:41.690
supervised activation tutorial where they make

00:18:41.690 --> 00:18:43.710
people sit in their Tesla and go through a little

00:18:43.710 --> 00:18:45.730
quiz. And the quiz consists of how many questions,

00:18:45.829 --> 00:18:50.829
Fred? Two. He holds up two fingers. He could

00:18:50.829 --> 00:18:53.230
be insulting me. I'm not sure what the British

00:18:53.230 --> 00:18:56.670
slang is. And so question one is select. Victory.

00:18:56.789 --> 00:18:59.390
Yeah. Oh, that was a good movie. Michael Caine

00:18:59.390 --> 00:19:02.349
and Sylvester Stallone and Pele. Anyway, question

00:19:02.349 --> 00:19:05.309
one, select the image where FSD supervised is

00:19:05.309 --> 00:19:08.250
active. Question two, are you responsible for

00:19:08.250 --> 00:19:10.910
safe vehicle operation while FSD supervises active?

00:19:12.349 --> 00:19:14.130
They're making, first of all, we don't see how

00:19:14.130 --> 00:19:15.829
many options there are. So this is a multiple

00:19:15.829 --> 00:19:18.750
guess. This is a multiple guess exam. You're

00:19:18.750 --> 00:19:20.589
not given any information on how many times you

00:19:20.589 --> 00:19:23.630
get to fail this and keep going wrong, wrong,

00:19:23.690 --> 00:19:25.869
wrong, and keep doing it over and over again.

00:19:27.150 --> 00:19:29.950
But this is beyond absurd because we know as

00:19:29.950 --> 00:19:31.990
soon as people accept something and they think

00:19:31.990 --> 00:19:33.769
it's real, they're going to forget they took

00:19:33.769 --> 00:19:35.890
a quiz. They're going to forget all of this and

00:19:35.890 --> 00:19:39.210
go, oh, my car is driving itself. Ha ha, windmills,

00:19:39.250 --> 00:19:42.450
bam, smash into them. This is just liability

00:19:42.450 --> 00:19:47.730
protection for Tesla. Not even great protection.

00:19:47.910 --> 00:19:51.670
So they can, you know, roam the Dutch countryside

00:19:51.670 --> 00:19:55.619
and soon other countries of the EU. We're dumb

00:19:55.619 --> 00:19:57.559
enough to fall for this, but they're not not

00:19:57.559 --> 00:20:01.200
you, the French. No, you will not let the little

00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:05.700
Nazi man in his cars and will you know. That's

00:20:05.700 --> 00:20:08.200
pretty good. What's what's it's not much of a

00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:10.440
quiz and it's not really a tutorial. It's not,

00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:13.000
you know, you know, it's not taking you through

00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:14.920
all the scenario. In fact, here's what I think

00:20:14.920 --> 00:20:17.000
it should do is take take take the drivers through

00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:19.660
a lot of the scenarios where they've seen. full

00:20:19.660 --> 00:20:22.839
self -drive or autopilot fail. And, you know,

00:20:22.859 --> 00:20:26.279
give people a direct tutorial on failure modes

00:20:26.279 --> 00:20:28.819
might be a better way of doing this. But also

00:20:28.819 --> 00:20:30.900
the real, I think one of the real failings of

00:20:30.900 --> 00:20:33.640
this system is that if another person gets in

00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:37.319
to drive your Tesla and they can, you know, they

00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:39.519
have even less experience with the vehicle than

00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:41.579
you, they can turn on full self -driving and

00:20:41.579 --> 00:20:43.440
there is no tutorial for them because you've

00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:46.059
already taken it for them. So there are problems

00:20:46.059 --> 00:20:50.789
here. I don't know what the Dutch are completely

00:20:50.789 --> 00:20:54.289
thinking here, but you know what? They're the

00:20:54.289 --> 00:20:57.069
first country in Europe to do this, and I guess

00:20:57.069 --> 00:20:58.990
it's going to be, we're going to see on a country

00:20:58.990 --> 00:21:02.009
-by -country basis who, you know, over time,

00:21:02.089 --> 00:21:04.789
who allows this to happen. And as time goes on,

00:21:04.849 --> 00:21:07.450
it's more, you know, these, you know, level 2++

00:21:07.450 --> 00:21:10.069
+, whatever you want to call them, vehicles that

00:21:10.069 --> 00:21:16.089
are semi -autonomous. And I guess we're going

00:21:16.089 --> 00:21:19.660
to see over time. what the appetite is for these

00:21:19.660 --> 00:21:23.079
vehicles in these other countries. But as the

00:21:23.079 --> 00:21:25.339
industry develops and produces more and more

00:21:25.339 --> 00:21:27.400
of these, there could be more pressure on the

00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:31.359
authorities to accept these systems and to allow

00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:35.720
them to deploy. We're all doomed. And I want

00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:40.579
to send out a special note to the Dutch that

00:21:40.579 --> 00:21:43.940
this is awful because my granddaughter is studying

00:21:43.940 --> 00:21:48.470
in... the netherlands right now so please be

00:21:48.470 --> 00:21:51.930
careful of my precious little granddaughter okay

00:21:51.930 --> 00:21:54.170
i mean she's got to come back to america when

00:21:54.170 --> 00:21:56.769
that's over right so that's yeah that's his own

00:21:56.769 --> 00:22:01.029
set of problems oh boy the america haters on

00:22:01.029 --> 00:22:03.589
this show all right that's my it's terrible that's

00:22:03.589 --> 00:22:06.849
my gas light but i'm i'm not sure if it's a tesla

00:22:06.849 --> 00:22:08.529
i don't think it's tesla i think it's the dutch

00:22:08.529 --> 00:22:10.309
i'm going to give it to the dutch government

00:22:10.309 --> 00:22:13.930
that's right take that big orange fred you have

00:22:13.930 --> 00:22:16.509
a musk related Gaslight as well this week, I

00:22:16.509 --> 00:22:20.730
believe. I do. And this one's kind of diffuse.

00:22:21.829 --> 00:22:25.009
But the title of the article is Musk falsely

00:22:25.009 --> 00:22:29.130
claims Tesla FSD is 10 times safer than humans

00:22:29.130 --> 00:22:33.210
and complains about lawsuits. Well, OK, that's

00:22:33.210 --> 00:22:36.630
not a surprise, is it? You know, how can you

00:22:36.630 --> 00:22:38.690
tell when Musk is lying? Because his lips are

00:22:38.690 --> 00:22:41.569
moving. So we don't really have a problem with

00:22:41.569 --> 00:22:44.579
the statement. So where are you? came at this

00:22:44.579 --> 00:22:48.000
from the gaslight is that the author, Fred Lambert,

00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:52.440
editor -in -chief of Electrek, and we'll have

00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:57.539
this reference on our website, uses as the basis

00:22:57.539 --> 00:23:04.940
for credible safety claims, Waymo. And he says

00:23:04.940 --> 00:23:11.140
that, you know, because the Tesla didn't do all

00:23:11.140 --> 00:23:14.380
the good things that Waymo did. then it's really

00:23:14.380 --> 00:23:17.559
a bad comparison. But I want to bring people

00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:20.220
back to my perennial problem with Waymo's claims.

00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:24.640
Quoting from the article, Tesla does not release

00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:28.339
disengagement data, crash by severity data, miles

00:23:28.339 --> 00:23:31.180
driven by road type, or the denominator uses

00:23:31.180 --> 00:23:33.900
to calculate his own crash rate. Well, number

00:23:33.900 --> 00:23:36.880
one, neither does Waymo. Waymo, by contrast,

00:23:37.019 --> 00:23:39.259
publishes peer -reviewed safety comparisons.

00:23:40.059 --> 00:23:42.420
with matched human driver baselines on the same

00:23:42.420 --> 00:23:45.359
roads, and has been transparent enough that insurers

00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:48.700
like Swiss Re have run their own analyses on

00:23:48.700 --> 00:23:52.059
its fleet. So what about those peer -reviewed

00:23:52.059 --> 00:23:54.619
safety comparisons? Well, number one, all of

00:23:54.619 --> 00:23:58.140
the peers were Waymo employees or Waymo clients.

00:23:58.460 --> 00:24:02.460
That's not exactly an independent review. The

00:24:02.460 --> 00:24:06.059
comparison of safety is based on the routes,

00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:10.880
vehicles, and software from before 2022. They

00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:14.400
look at trailing indicators only, did not identify

00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:17.380
or show relevance of any leading indicators.

00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:20.779
And the difference is a trailing indicator tells

00:24:20.779 --> 00:24:23.339
you what happened. A leading indicator tells

00:24:23.339 --> 00:24:26.460
you what is likely to happen. And there's no

00:24:26.460 --> 00:24:28.660
references in the Waymo studies to any leading

00:24:28.660 --> 00:24:32.160
indicators. And the conclusions that study reached,

00:24:32.440 --> 00:24:35.299
they're not transferable to or supportive of

00:24:35.299 --> 00:24:38.759
current vehicles. or software, or other human

00:24:38.759 --> 00:24:41.299
-in -a -loop operation architecture, staffing,

00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:44.819
or connectivity, because it uses completely different

00:24:44.819 --> 00:24:48.519
vehicles and software, and in fact, software

00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:51.279
philosophy, than the current fleet of vehicles.

00:24:51.500 --> 00:24:56.440
It used to be that they had rules -based self

00:24:56.440 --> 00:24:59.799
-driving. It used to be that they had Jaguar

00:24:59.799 --> 00:25:03.039
I -PACE vehicles. All of these vehicles are brand

00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:05.910
new, top of the line. And the comparison that

00:25:05.910 --> 00:25:09.109
they used were against the transportation system

00:25:09.109 --> 00:25:12.269
writ large, which includes vehicles in the average

00:25:12.269 --> 00:25:15.089
age of 12 years, meaning half of them are older

00:25:15.089 --> 00:25:19.609
than 12 years. A lot of other conditions based

00:25:19.609 --> 00:25:24.609
on it. So the basic comparison there that Waymo

00:25:24.609 --> 00:25:29.170
used is just bullshit. The second point they

00:25:29.170 --> 00:25:31.230
make is insurers like Swiss Re have run their

00:25:31.230 --> 00:25:34.220
own analyses. Well, number one, Waymo paid for

00:25:34.220 --> 00:25:38.500
that analysis. The analysis ignored all the collisions

00:25:38.500 --> 00:25:41.880
and other events reported to NHTSA for the standard

00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:45.500
general order. They compared crash data against

00:25:45.500 --> 00:25:49.519
only those that had insurance claims. So if Waymo

00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:51.660
paid off somebody rather than put it through

00:25:51.660 --> 00:25:54.279
insurance, it wouldn't be relevant, would not

00:25:54.279 --> 00:25:57.579
fall into the base. It did not include any determination

00:25:57.579 --> 00:26:02.420
of fault. Fault is a legal dictum. an engineering

00:26:02.420 --> 00:26:06.880
consideration. So putting in a determination

00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:11.640
of at fault really skews the data in ways that

00:26:11.640 --> 00:26:15.579
are not understood very well. Again, data is

00:26:15.579 --> 00:26:19.579
based on only operations from 2022 or earlier

00:26:19.579 --> 00:26:23.039
in restricted speed zones and with a different

00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:25.720
software stack. The current Waymo operations

00:26:25.720 --> 00:26:29.380
are still not really autonomous. It's really...

00:26:29.930 --> 00:26:33.009
human -in -the -loop operation with end -to -end

00:26:33.009 --> 00:26:36.470
AI. This is something completely new in the world,

00:26:36.509 --> 00:26:39.069
and nobody really knows how this is going to

00:26:39.069 --> 00:26:42.250
work out. It's only been in place for a year

00:26:42.250 --> 00:26:46.430
or so, and by Waymo saying that what we did in

00:26:46.430 --> 00:26:50.109
the past, before 2022, is applicable to the safety

00:26:50.109 --> 00:26:52.609
of the current vehicles that are now operating

00:26:52.609 --> 00:26:56.289
with end -to -end AI with human -in -the -loop.

00:26:56.920 --> 00:27:00.579
baffles me how they can say that this is relevant

00:27:00.579 --> 00:27:03.079
to the current safety estimates they're making.

00:27:03.779 --> 00:27:06.859
Again, they compared all the vehicles, 12 years

00:27:06.859 --> 00:27:09.700
or so, with an average age of 12 years, with

00:27:09.700 --> 00:27:13.720
brand new premium Waymo vehicles, which include

00:27:13.720 --> 00:27:17.940
built -in safety devices not evident in the older

00:27:17.940 --> 00:27:20.839
vehicles they're comparing to, notably automatic

00:27:20.839 --> 00:27:23.960
braking and collision avoidance. None of which

00:27:23.960 --> 00:27:26.799
are in the really old cars that are in the database.

00:27:26.940 --> 00:27:31.660
So my problem with this is not that it says Musk

00:27:31.660 --> 00:27:36.559
is a liar and that the safety claims are incredible.

00:27:36.759 --> 00:27:44.380
It's just that Mr. Lambert assumes that the nonsense

00:27:44.380 --> 00:27:47.839
being put out by Waymo, propagated by Alphabet

00:27:47.839 --> 00:27:51.660
in its Google search engine, is somehow a gold

00:27:51.660 --> 00:27:55.529
standard. or what safety analysis in the av industry

00:27:55.529 --> 00:27:59.150
should be like so that's it that's it end of

00:27:59.150 --> 00:28:01.670
rant that that's a good take is you know fred

00:28:01.670 --> 00:28:03.910
lambert's generally pretty good but that was

00:28:03.910 --> 00:28:06.069
you know he slipped that in there in that article

00:28:06.069 --> 00:28:09.670
but you didn't let him get away with it but i'd

00:28:09.670 --> 00:28:12.349
like to point out that our uh esteemed senator

00:28:12.349 --> 00:28:16.369
from the state of texas ted cancun cruz um he

00:28:16.369 --> 00:28:19.329
you know you know he's just a simple boy educated

00:28:19.329 --> 00:28:22.900
at princeton law degree from harvard He recently

00:28:22.900 --> 00:28:26.200
in a Senate hearing said, hey, Waymos don't drive

00:28:26.200 --> 00:28:28.500
drunk. They don't drive distracted. They don't

00:28:28.500 --> 00:28:31.039
text. So what I'm trying to say, listeners, is

00:28:31.039 --> 00:28:32.940
you can have the best education in the world,

00:28:32.980 --> 00:28:34.960
but eventually you'll just be reading press releases

00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:37.940
from Waymo because that's how good Waymo's PR

00:28:37.940 --> 00:28:43.299
is. There we go. Michael, got a gaslight? No.

00:28:43.640 --> 00:28:48.039
What? I've got an anti -gaslight. What? Oh, I

00:28:48.039 --> 00:28:51.099
don't know how to score this. We're so focused

00:28:51.099 --> 00:28:53.779
on all the all the bad in the world. Right, guys.

00:28:54.660 --> 00:28:57.079
I wanted to focus on something good. And this

00:28:57.079 --> 00:29:00.319
one is, you know, one of our one of our I'm sure

00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:02.160
Jonathan Morrison at this point has gotten a

00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:04.220
gaslight from us, you know, a few months into

00:29:04.220 --> 00:29:07.019
his job over at NHTSA. But he got a gaslight

00:29:07.019 --> 00:29:09.119
before he even started at NHTSA. That probably

00:29:09.119 --> 00:29:13.230
did. But in this case, NHTSA is doing something

00:29:13.230 --> 00:29:15.430
really great. And I saw Jonathan's name pop up

00:29:15.430 --> 00:29:19.250
in this article. What they're doing is putting

00:29:19.250 --> 00:29:25.470
a lot of money in grants. NHTSA is awarding $50

00:29:25.470 --> 00:29:28.829
million in grants for ambulance services across

00:29:28.829 --> 00:29:33.660
the country. to start or expand pre -hospital

00:29:33.660 --> 00:29:36.140
blood programs. Now, what is this? This is what,

00:29:36.140 --> 00:29:39.640
you know, allows an ambulance to bring blood

00:29:39.640 --> 00:29:42.500
to a crash scene where there are people rapidly

00:29:42.500 --> 00:29:46.279
losing blood and potentially, you know, dying

00:29:46.279 --> 00:29:50.119
on the scene. And to start blood transfusions

00:29:50.119 --> 00:29:53.000
way before they get to the hospital, it's something

00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:57.200
that was... developed primarily and i think combat

00:29:57.200 --> 00:29:59.859
zones to treat soldiers who are injured you know

00:29:59.859 --> 00:30:03.259
way out in the middle of nowhere where medical

00:30:03.259 --> 00:30:06.220
care is a long way away somewhat analogous to

00:30:06.220 --> 00:30:08.619
your situation a lot of crashes where you know

00:30:08.619 --> 00:30:12.359
you could be half an hour or more even from a

00:30:12.359 --> 00:30:15.680
hospital losing blood fast and needing a transfusion

00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:19.900
um you know and you know Giving you an idea of

00:30:19.900 --> 00:30:22.779
NHTSA's kind of budget priorities here. NHTSA's

00:30:22.779 --> 00:30:25.259
$50 million is a lot of money over at NHTSA.

00:30:25.339 --> 00:30:27.740
You know, that's, I think the NCAP budget now

00:30:27.740 --> 00:30:30.839
is around $6 .5 million. So NHTSA's awarding,

00:30:30.839 --> 00:30:34.200
you know, eight times that amount to ambulance

00:30:34.200 --> 00:30:37.180
services across the country to get this program

00:30:37.180 --> 00:30:41.500
in place. And I think we might see dramatic impacts

00:30:41.500 --> 00:30:44.220
from this and some of the more deadly crashes.

00:30:44.319 --> 00:30:48.599
I think we could see a reduction in... from this

00:30:48.599 --> 00:30:52.599
type of program. And for that, I'm giving out

00:30:52.599 --> 00:30:57.400
our first anti -gas light. Wow. That's a good

00:30:57.400 --> 00:30:59.680
one. I like this one a lot. The article, which

00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:03.099
we linked to, talks about how previously ambulances,

00:31:03.099 --> 00:31:06.380
EMTs would have saline on the vehicle and they

00:31:06.380 --> 00:31:08.819
could pump that in, but sometimes that's just

00:31:08.819 --> 00:31:10.720
not enough. It's not going to make it. But now

00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:12.559
they're talking about, hey, we can put blood

00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:14.900
infusion right here, type O blood, which everyone's

00:31:14.900 --> 00:31:18.029
a dental receipt giver. Receiver? I don't know.

00:31:18.630 --> 00:31:21.470
And that will basically revive people and get

00:31:21.470 --> 00:31:24.349
them back alive in a fighting chance. It's amazing.

00:31:25.930 --> 00:31:29.170
Yeah, it's a good one. Was anyone a type O blood

00:31:29.170 --> 00:31:34.769
donor? Not me. No. I have to ask my mom every

00:31:34.769 --> 00:31:36.569
couple of years what my blood type is because

00:31:36.569 --> 00:31:39.930
I continually forget. Why do you need to know

00:31:39.930 --> 00:31:42.349
what your blood type is? Well, I mean, I feel

00:31:42.349 --> 00:31:45.769
like I'm stupid for not remembering it, but for

00:31:45.769 --> 00:31:48.869
whatever reason, it goes in one ear and right

00:31:48.869 --> 00:31:51.170
out the other and I forget it. And so, you know,

00:31:51.190 --> 00:31:53.130
I'll ask my mom next time I see her what it is

00:31:53.130 --> 00:31:58.069
and forget it again. OK, listen, this is a tough

00:31:58.069 --> 00:31:59.890
one to score, honestly, this week. I mean, my

00:31:59.890 --> 00:32:02.630
gaslight ended with Michael saying that was pretty

00:32:02.630 --> 00:32:05.369
good. I mean, that's bonus points right there.

00:32:06.269 --> 00:32:09.420
Brad here got the. hidden little angle of that

00:32:09.420 --> 00:32:12.900
Waymo, a little toss -off to Waymo was hidden

00:32:12.900 --> 00:32:15.839
in this article about Musk being a jackass. Yeah,

00:32:15.859 --> 00:32:18.480
he squeaked his way to Waymo through Musk. Yeah,

00:32:18.500 --> 00:32:22.000
that was some next -level ninja -type moves.

00:32:22.180 --> 00:32:24.299
And then, Michael, you do the anti -gaslight?

00:32:24.539 --> 00:32:28.500
I think I'd give it to Michael. Some good news

00:32:28.500 --> 00:32:32.059
from time to time is always welcome on the show.

00:32:32.200 --> 00:32:34.339
Well, for trying to think you can judge Fred,

00:32:34.420 --> 00:32:38.250
you just lost. I was going to give, I'm going

00:32:38.250 --> 00:32:40.789
to pull the Phil Kopman rule. And I think everybody's

00:32:40.789 --> 00:32:44.809
a winner this week. I got the t -shirt. Everybody's

00:32:44.809 --> 00:32:47.170
a winner. That was a good one. I like a nice

00:32:47.170 --> 00:32:50.049
positive story. One thing they point out that

00:32:50.049 --> 00:32:52.369
this will have to keep funding this program because

00:32:52.369 --> 00:32:56.750
blood expires. Oh, because a lot to keep getting.

00:32:56.769 --> 00:32:58.430
And I believe there's a blood shortage going

00:32:58.430 --> 00:33:01.950
on right now too. So that's, everybody get out

00:33:01.950 --> 00:33:04.329
there and donate blood if you're capable. Right.

00:33:04.769 --> 00:33:07.849
I've done it once. It was a good time. I got

00:33:07.849 --> 00:33:11.470
cookies. Anything for a cookie. Let's jump back

00:33:11.470 --> 00:33:14.309
over to our friends in Europe. And the Europeans,

00:33:14.450 --> 00:33:16.509
they have their version of NCAP, which is the

00:33:16.509 --> 00:33:19.450
New Car Assessment Program. And from an article

00:33:19.450 --> 00:33:23.730
in cbtnews .com, which we get all your cannabis

00:33:23.730 --> 00:33:26.210
tobacco news from. I'm not really sure what that

00:33:26.210 --> 00:33:28.150
stands for. I'm going to quote from this article.

00:33:28.410 --> 00:33:30.930
European safety officials say political dynamics

00:33:30.930 --> 00:33:33.049
in the United States are slowing the pace of

00:33:33.049 --> 00:33:35.450
vehicle safety advancements. Raising concerns

00:33:35.450 --> 00:33:37.390
about the country's ability to keep up with global

00:33:37.390 --> 00:33:40.710
standards. And to that, I say, screw you, Europe.

00:33:40.789 --> 00:33:43.609
You don't know nothing. OK, we're pulling out

00:33:43.609 --> 00:33:48.849
of NATO now. Going to insult us? No, they basically

00:33:48.849 --> 00:33:52.589
point out saying, yeah, we we have to completely

00:33:52.589 --> 00:33:54.910
go our own. I mean, Euro NCAP standards been

00:33:54.910 --> 00:33:57.369
stronger than the US for quite some time at this

00:33:57.369 --> 00:34:00.809
point. And they're basically saying we can't

00:34:00.809 --> 00:34:03.970
even we can't even look at what the US is doing

00:34:03.970 --> 00:34:06.859
to. to base things off of just because every

00:34:06.859 --> 00:34:09.079
few years you guys just switch and go the other

00:34:09.079 --> 00:34:12.099
direction. It's just a distraction. That was

00:34:12.099 --> 00:34:14.619
my takeaway. Well, the article, I mean, there's

00:34:14.619 --> 00:34:17.019
some things here that aren't completely accurate.

00:34:17.119 --> 00:34:19.000
I mean, they say in the article that, you know,

00:34:19.000 --> 00:34:24.019
the regulatory structure governing the National

00:34:24.019 --> 00:34:25.679
Highway Traffic Safety Administration requires

00:34:25.679 --> 00:34:28.860
key decisions to pass through Congress, creating

00:34:28.860 --> 00:34:31.039
delays and limiting the agency's flexibility.

00:34:31.320 --> 00:34:34.639
That's not really correct. Most of what goes

00:34:34.639 --> 00:34:37.300
through Congress regarding – I would say there

00:34:37.300 --> 00:34:39.159
are two important things that go through Congress.

00:34:39.360 --> 00:34:41.619
One of them you could say does delay the agency,

00:34:41.679 --> 00:34:44.340
and that is the budget. Appropriations and it's

00:34:44.340 --> 00:34:47.239
not getting enough money, yes, that creates delays.

00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:49.920
Yes, that limits the agency's flexibility to

00:34:49.920 --> 00:34:54.539
update safety protocols. But the agency's decision

00:34:54.539 --> 00:34:57.960
-making in regards to rulemakings and in regards

00:34:57.960 --> 00:35:01.409
to safety is not – does not hinge on congressional

00:35:01.409 --> 00:35:04.550
approval. The agency has the authority to prop

00:35:04.550 --> 00:35:08.010
up rules and regulations that benefit motor vehicle

00:35:08.010 --> 00:35:10.429
safety broadly. As long as they can prove that

00:35:10.429 --> 00:35:12.590
there's a benefit to motor vehicle safety, they

00:35:12.590 --> 00:35:15.960
can put a rule in place. That's not really the

00:35:15.960 --> 00:35:20.900
case. Congress isn't standing in the way on individual

00:35:20.900 --> 00:35:23.519
NHTSA actions and rules and regulations, although

00:35:23.519 --> 00:35:25.739
I would argue that they are standing in the way

00:35:25.739 --> 00:35:28.760
on getting NHTSA the money they need to properly

00:35:28.760 --> 00:35:33.440
create those rules, do the research, and do everything

00:35:33.440 --> 00:35:35.539
the agency needs to do to make America's roads

00:35:35.539 --> 00:35:40.489
safer. Nonetheless, the article's point remains,

00:35:40.789 --> 00:35:44.269
you know, NCAP in the United States is so far

00:35:44.269 --> 00:35:47.909
behind Europe at this point that I'm concerned

00:35:47.909 --> 00:35:50.949
it may never catch up. You know, we even see,

00:35:51.010 --> 00:35:54.449
you know. bills moving through the house specifically

00:35:54.449 --> 00:35:57.530
right now, which would allow automakers to submit

00:35:57.530 --> 00:36:02.690
their own voluntarily submit testing results

00:36:02.690 --> 00:36:06.250
for vehicles, which is absolutely the opposite

00:36:06.250 --> 00:36:08.670
of what NCAP was designed to be. And in fact,

00:36:08.750 --> 00:36:12.789
NCAP was designed to be independent. It was designed

00:36:12.789 --> 00:36:16.730
to be the fast way for NHTSA to start doing research

00:36:16.730 --> 00:36:22.860
and start taking a look at testing and things

00:36:22.860 --> 00:36:25.940
that they could do to make the fleet safer without

00:36:25.940 --> 00:36:29.300
having the constraints that are imposed on rulemaking

00:36:29.300 --> 00:36:32.679
and the other processes that are far less flexible.

00:36:32.860 --> 00:36:35.460
So there's a lot of problems here. I think the

00:36:35.460 --> 00:36:39.480
number one issue, I think, for NCAP is that its

00:36:39.480 --> 00:36:42.280
budget has been slashed even over the last decade.

00:36:42.860 --> 00:36:46.659
They just don't have the money there to conduct

00:36:46.659 --> 00:36:48.900
the type of testing that they need to be able

00:36:48.900 --> 00:36:51.929
to conduct. to ensure safety on the roads and

00:36:51.929 --> 00:36:55.030
to expand that testing over time to accommodate

00:36:55.030 --> 00:36:58.650
for newer designs, new software, crash avoidance

00:36:58.650 --> 00:37:02.190
features, partial autonomy. There's so many issues

00:37:02.190 --> 00:37:06.289
that are coming down the road that... the NCAP

00:37:06.289 --> 00:37:09.250
needs to get started on, but it's at the same

00:37:09.250 --> 00:37:11.510
time still hasn't caught up to a lot of the issues

00:37:11.510 --> 00:37:14.150
that have been plaguing safety for the past few

00:37:14.150 --> 00:37:18.230
years. So NCAP needs reform. It needs an overhaul.

00:37:18.369 --> 00:37:20.130
But, you know, in my opinion, the number one

00:37:20.130 --> 00:37:23.190
thing that can be done there right now is to

00:37:23.190 --> 00:37:27.380
give the NCAP program more money. to carry out

00:37:27.380 --> 00:37:30.579
its mission. I think I've mentioned in previous

00:37:30.579 --> 00:37:33.360
podcasts that the budget NCAP has right now makes

00:37:33.360 --> 00:37:35.860
it hard for them even to buy the cars they need

00:37:35.860 --> 00:37:38.940
to test, much less improve their programs, put

00:37:38.940 --> 00:37:41.480
in new tests and do the type of research they

00:37:41.480 --> 00:37:45.900
need to succeed at all that. Excellent. Now I'm

00:37:45.900 --> 00:37:48.480
going to take a left turn and go to our friends

00:37:48.480 --> 00:37:50.699
from the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.

00:37:50.800 --> 00:37:54.199
They did a public poll recently. And I'm going

00:37:54.199 --> 00:37:55.739
to quote a little bit from it. The poll found

00:37:55.739 --> 00:37:57.719
that 81 % of respondents are concerned about

00:37:57.719 --> 00:37:59.960
sharing the road with driverless cars, including

00:37:59.960 --> 00:38:04.239
50, 42 % were very concerned. Trepidation is

00:38:04.239 --> 00:38:06.059
even higher for driverless tractor trailer and

00:38:06.059 --> 00:38:09.139
delivery trucks. And the public also strongly

00:38:09.139 --> 00:38:12.179
backs federal safeguards. The poll found 76 %

00:38:12.179 --> 00:38:15.480
support requiring a driverless car vision test.

00:38:16.259 --> 00:38:18.139
Now, that was my big takeaway. Now, I get most

00:38:18.139 --> 00:38:19.760
people are like, I don't know. There's an automatic

00:38:19.760 --> 00:38:22.039
car. Maybe I don't want to be on the road with

00:38:22.039 --> 00:38:23.800
it. I don't want to be on the road with the Tesla.

00:38:24.340 --> 00:38:26.820
I don't want to be near a BMW driver. I think

00:38:26.820 --> 00:38:28.500
BMW drivers a little more scary to me than a

00:38:28.500 --> 00:38:32.139
Waymo. But that's a different story. So but what

00:38:32.139 --> 00:38:34.460
I really liked is here and I didn't see the poll.

00:38:34.559 --> 00:38:36.619
Maybe, Michael, you can elucidate it. But the

00:38:36.619 --> 00:38:39.800
poll found 76 percent support requiring a driverless

00:38:39.800 --> 00:38:43.159
car vision test. And now. Fred's been talking

00:38:43.159 --> 00:38:45.800
about this since podcast episode number three.

00:38:46.400 --> 00:38:48.099
I'm not sure if it was the third episode. It

00:38:48.099 --> 00:38:49.199
might have been the first episode. It was the

00:38:49.199 --> 00:38:50.920
second. It was the second episode. There we go.

00:38:51.300 --> 00:38:55.679
So we, I love this idea, but Mike, what, what,

00:38:55.679 --> 00:38:58.639
what is this? What was the question asked? Like,

00:38:58.679 --> 00:39:00.800
and what does this look like? Can we actually

00:39:00.800 --> 00:39:03.340
put in there? Can we actually give Fred a job

00:39:03.340 --> 00:39:06.440
where he holds up like a giant letter E in front

00:39:06.440 --> 00:39:09.679
of an AV and have it say, yes, I see. It's the

00:39:09.679 --> 00:39:14.699
letter E. Hopefully, the test is going to be

00:39:14.699 --> 00:39:17.719
a little more complicated than that, right? Otherwise,

00:39:17.980 --> 00:39:20.900
just like with NCAP, manufacturers design the

00:39:20.900 --> 00:39:24.960
vehicles just to recognize the letter E and get

00:39:24.960 --> 00:39:27.639
away with the test. But this is something that

00:39:27.639 --> 00:39:31.420
I think the most important part about this poll

00:39:31.420 --> 00:39:35.820
to me is that it found that Americans want the

00:39:35.820 --> 00:39:38.840
government involved in setting safety standards.

00:39:39.420 --> 00:39:42.280
to make sure these vehicles are operating capably

00:39:42.280 --> 00:39:47.159
and safely. The responses are overwhelming. And

00:39:47.159 --> 00:39:50.420
if you go down the list, the poll looked at basically

00:39:50.420 --> 00:39:54.500
three main categories, autonomous vehicles, advanced

00:39:54.500 --> 00:39:56.980
safety technology, automatic emergency braking,

00:39:57.380 --> 00:39:59.760
speed prevention technology, that kind of thing,

00:39:59.900 --> 00:40:04.619
and then truck safety. And what you'll see here

00:40:04.619 --> 00:40:07.059
is that the public is... not only concerned,

00:40:07.199 --> 00:40:11.019
but they also really want the government taking

00:40:11.019 --> 00:40:14.519
positions and, you know, doing their part to

00:40:14.519 --> 00:40:17.239
advocate for safety, which is something, an area

00:40:17.239 --> 00:40:20.059
where we think the government is failing in a

00:40:20.059 --> 00:40:22.460
number of areas right now. Definitely around

00:40:22.460 --> 00:40:25.460
autonomous vehicles where the federal government

00:40:25.460 --> 00:40:28.079
and some states seem more concerned with, you

00:40:28.079 --> 00:40:31.500
know. propping up the fortunes of billionaires

00:40:31.500 --> 00:40:34.480
in order to get something on our roads that we're

00:40:34.480 --> 00:40:38.780
not really sure we want or need or we're not

00:40:38.780 --> 00:40:41.500
really sure what the negative impacts will be.

00:40:41.599 --> 00:40:44.380
Even beyond safety, it looks like a lot of negative

00:40:44.380 --> 00:40:47.820
impacts, there may be safety impacts and there

00:40:47.820 --> 00:40:51.659
probably will be. But beyond that, the impact

00:40:51.659 --> 00:40:54.639
of having extra congestion and all the other

00:40:54.639 --> 00:40:58.340
issues that we've seen around AVs could be very...

00:40:58.619 --> 00:41:04.699
you know, put people off more than the rare safety

00:41:04.699 --> 00:41:06.960
circumstance, right? I mean, if you're driving

00:41:06.960 --> 00:41:09.579
around every day and you're seeing AVs stopping

00:41:09.579 --> 00:41:11.900
the road or causing traffic, or you're seeing

00:41:11.900 --> 00:41:14.380
empty AVs running around everywhere that are

00:41:14.380 --> 00:41:16.460
causing traffic, that's going to piss you off

00:41:16.460 --> 00:41:18.920
a lot more than hearing about a crash that happened

00:41:18.920 --> 00:41:22.579
in a state across the country that involves someone's

00:41:22.579 --> 00:41:27.340
safety. So, you know, there's, I think, overwhelmingly,

00:41:28.539 --> 00:41:32.619
The poll found that Americans want the government.

00:41:33.079 --> 00:41:35.699
to get involved here and set standards. And I

00:41:35.699 --> 00:41:37.739
think the vision test is a great example of one

00:41:37.739 --> 00:41:40.179
of those standards that the public wants, because,

00:41:40.179 --> 00:41:42.679
you know, we've got to make sure that these vehicles

00:41:42.679 --> 00:41:45.900
are capable of recognizing every single one of

00:41:45.900 --> 00:41:48.500
us out on the road, whether we're in a car or

00:41:48.500 --> 00:41:51.659
outside of a car, and so that a robot's not running

00:41:51.659 --> 00:41:54.639
over us, right? So that's number one. But also,

00:41:54.860 --> 00:41:56.920
you know, the poll went further and found that

00:41:56.920 --> 00:41:59.159
there's a lot of support to require companies

00:41:59.159 --> 00:42:02.179
to report crash information to the DOT, right?

00:42:03.650 --> 00:42:06.050
that's obviously something that needs to be tracked

00:42:06.050 --> 00:42:09.429
if we're going to advocate and ultimately get

00:42:09.429 --> 00:42:11.610
rules in place that can help out with the safety

00:42:11.610 --> 00:42:15.030
of these vehicles. There was also some input

00:42:15.030 --> 00:42:18.190
on remote drivers following up on, you know,

00:42:18.210 --> 00:42:20.210
Senator Markey's report and some of that stuff.

00:42:21.010 --> 00:42:24.090
And there's a lot of support for, you know, making

00:42:24.090 --> 00:42:27.250
the current rules better. Right. Making the.

00:42:28.860 --> 00:42:31.960
Making AEB, which the automatic emergency braking

00:42:31.960 --> 00:42:33.900
rule that came out and is still being challenged

00:42:33.900 --> 00:42:37.460
by the industry, is not good enough, right? It's

00:42:37.460 --> 00:42:40.780
still not geared to recognize bicyclists, motorcyclists,

00:42:40.800 --> 00:42:43.280
and all sorts of other conveyances that people

00:42:43.280 --> 00:42:49.380
are riding around on. And the industry is opposing.

00:42:51.519 --> 00:42:54.519
You know, strengthening that rule at the same

00:42:54.519 --> 00:42:57.139
time as they're claiming that they can build

00:42:57.139 --> 00:43:00.619
these autonomous vehicles that presumably can

00:43:00.619 --> 00:43:02.820
recognize bicycles and motorcycles and all these

00:43:02.820 --> 00:43:05.039
other people and stop on the road. So there's

00:43:05.039 --> 00:43:08.139
a lot of there's a there's a big gap there in

00:43:08.139 --> 00:43:12.400
what the industry is saying and doing. And so

00:43:12.400 --> 00:43:15.019
I think this poll is really interesting and something

00:43:15.019 --> 00:43:17.219
that that's worth checking out. If you know,

00:43:17.219 --> 00:43:21.269
just if anything, just to get it. Get an idea

00:43:21.269 --> 00:43:25.190
of how the public feels about the issue and how,

00:43:25.369 --> 00:43:29.130
you know, the bigwigs in Washington are ignoring

00:43:29.130 --> 00:43:32.690
the public in favor of promoting corporate growth

00:43:32.690 --> 00:43:36.610
and wealth. Or anybody who's interested in issues

00:43:36.610 --> 00:43:40.090
that they would address, we have a checklist

00:43:40.090 --> 00:43:45.250
for AV safety or regulators that's on our website

00:43:45.250 --> 00:43:48.510
and give you some ideas of the scope of considerations

00:43:48.510 --> 00:43:53.170
that might be included. In regulations. And before

00:43:53.170 --> 00:43:55.530
we move on, I just want to jump in there. Michael,

00:43:55.590 --> 00:43:57.510
you're talking about the negative aspects we

00:43:57.510 --> 00:44:00.130
see with AVs, but the positive ones, those are

00:44:00.130 --> 00:44:02.929
just theoretical, honestly, at this point. I'm

00:44:02.929 --> 00:44:05.510
still waiting to see this. I mean, I can see

00:44:05.510 --> 00:44:08.869
where there could be. Theoretically. So I could

00:44:08.869 --> 00:44:10.670
see where there could be some. I mean, there

00:44:10.670 --> 00:44:13.250
are some. I think some of the arguments from

00:44:13.250 --> 00:44:15.610
the disabled community, you know, are valid.

00:44:17.760 --> 00:44:21.500
Yeah, eventually. And potentially. Yeah. If the

00:44:21.500 --> 00:44:24.599
industry actually focuses on that. Right. I'm

00:44:24.599 --> 00:44:26.679
still not convinced that the autonomous vehicle

00:44:26.679 --> 00:44:29.699
industry isn't just using the disabled as kind

00:44:29.699 --> 00:44:32.900
of an emotional crutch to get them to help them

00:44:32.900 --> 00:44:36.099
out in their lobbying. And then when they finally

00:44:36.099 --> 00:44:38.559
do deploy these vehicles and they find out that,

00:44:38.619 --> 00:44:41.900
oh, it's really expensive to put a wheelchair

00:44:41.900 --> 00:44:45.960
equipment into these vehicles or it's really

00:44:45.960 --> 00:44:49.000
equipment to do this. be, then are they really

00:44:49.000 --> 00:44:51.699
going to do it? I don't think so, but we will

00:44:51.699 --> 00:44:55.599
see. Crazy. With that, hey, Fred, you got some

00:44:55.599 --> 00:45:00.000
towel for us? I do. This is on the death of critical

00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:03.280
thinking and automated gullibility. Oh, is this

00:45:03.280 --> 00:45:06.579
about me? Yeah. Could be. Could be. We'll find

00:45:06.579 --> 00:45:08.940
out as we go through this. So I'm thinking about

00:45:08.940 --> 00:45:12.440
Chad GPT and his ilk. There's substitute trailing

00:45:12.440 --> 00:45:16.949
indicators from published information. or forward

00:45:16.949 --> 00:45:19.969
-looking critical thinking and innovation. And

00:45:19.969 --> 00:45:23.510
when I think of it, I really think that AI is

00:45:23.510 --> 00:45:26.130
just the opposite of human intelligence. It's

00:45:26.130 --> 00:45:28.690
not a substitute. Because human intelligence

00:45:28.690 --> 00:45:33.110
starts with a specific observation and then generalizes

00:45:33.110 --> 00:45:39.010
to its potential applications. AI instead generalizes

00:45:39.010 --> 00:45:43.769
from the information that it sees in databases.

00:45:44.599 --> 00:45:48.539
and then attempts to apply whatever conclusions

00:45:48.539 --> 00:45:50.880
it's reached from the generalizations to the

00:45:50.880 --> 00:45:54.199
specific instance that it's currently addressing.

00:45:54.900 --> 00:45:57.260
So, for example, when Einstein discovered that

00:45:57.260 --> 00:46:01.420
E equals MC squared, he did not anticipate Hiroshima.

00:46:01.699 --> 00:46:05.800
That was an application that came out of people's

00:46:05.800 --> 00:46:09.860
use of that specific equation to generalize into

00:46:09.860 --> 00:46:13.420
the world of atomic energy and atomic weapons.

00:46:14.159 --> 00:46:17.360
But when AI states that AVs are X times safer

00:46:17.360 --> 00:46:20.719
than human drivers, it does not apply to the

00:46:20.719 --> 00:46:23.699
safety of the specific Waymo that's taking you

00:46:23.699 --> 00:46:27.219
to the airport today. Accepting the safety of

00:46:27.219 --> 00:46:30.420
that ride is an example of automated gullibility.

00:46:31.739 --> 00:46:35.900
And that's a great example of automated gullibility

00:46:35.900 --> 00:46:39.000
by the ubiquity of statements about automated

00:46:39.000 --> 00:46:41.380
vehicle safety on the highways that you can get

00:46:41.380 --> 00:46:44.889
from your computer. AI -enhanced searches will

00:46:44.889 --> 00:46:47.050
highlight erroneous references to driverless

00:46:47.050 --> 00:46:51.030
miles, as discussed earlier, without a human

00:46:51.030 --> 00:46:54.369
death at fault of the AV. But those results are

00:46:54.369 --> 00:46:57.889
based on numerous publications by Waymo, which

00:46:57.889 --> 00:47:02.070
is, by the way, owned by the same company that

00:47:02.070 --> 00:47:06.630
owns Google, which means that it's an expert

00:47:06.630 --> 00:47:12.010
in propagating misinformation. The results are

00:47:12.010 --> 00:47:14.730
based on numerous publications by Waymo on critical

00:47:14.730 --> 00:47:17.170
consumers of the propaganda and by reporters

00:47:17.170 --> 00:47:21.090
who regurgitate Waymo's nonsense, thus reinforcing

00:47:21.090 --> 00:47:25.969
the myth, all mediated by Alphabet and its ubiquitous

00:47:25.969 --> 00:47:29.110
Google search engine. But ubiquity is not proof.

00:47:29.289 --> 00:47:31.969
It's only proof that the urban myth propagation

00:47:31.969 --> 00:47:36.920
has worked. Unfortunately, reporters... For example,

00:47:36.980 --> 00:47:39.239
we'll hang on every word that slides out of President

00:47:39.239 --> 00:47:42.280
Trump's mouth without emphasizing to its readers

00:47:42.280 --> 00:47:44.239
that you can tell when he's lying because his

00:47:44.239 --> 00:47:48.320
lips are moving. You know, that's the derivative

00:47:48.320 --> 00:47:52.360
report they base, they publish, and you read

00:47:52.360 --> 00:47:55.260
and you accept is really an example of automated

00:47:55.260 --> 00:47:58.099
gullibility. It just shows up in front of you

00:47:58.099 --> 00:48:02.400
and you absorb it. There's a word for that, anoesis,

00:48:02.579 --> 00:48:07.590
which means... the uncritical absorption of data

00:48:07.590 --> 00:48:12.809
through pure sensation. I can only add my small

00:48:12.809 --> 00:48:15.409
voice to everyone's high school history teacher's

00:48:15.409 --> 00:48:19.369
warning to be skeptical, to look under the covers

00:48:19.369 --> 00:48:22.010
and assure yourself that the information you've

00:48:22.010 --> 00:48:25.510
heard and maybe tended to repeat is true and

00:48:25.510 --> 00:48:29.389
not just truthiness. Humans throughout history

00:48:29.389 --> 00:48:31.630
have been encouraged to be gullible by their

00:48:31.630 --> 00:48:34.699
rulers. It's really troubling that the business

00:48:34.699 --> 00:48:38.539
of gullibility has now been automated and is

00:48:38.539 --> 00:48:41.760
controlled by a very small group of unimaginably

00:48:41.760 --> 00:48:44.820
wealthy and conservative oligarchs who, in the

00:48:44.820 --> 00:48:48.699
context of AVs, are using that gullibility to

00:48:48.699 --> 00:48:51.820
destroy local economies and the lives of the

00:48:51.820 --> 00:48:54.239
people in the communities who depend on providing

00:48:54.239 --> 00:48:57.940
real human value to their transportation ecosystems.

00:48:59.179 --> 00:49:03.610
End of rant. There you have it. You know, I want

00:49:03.610 --> 00:49:06.190
to thank you because some weeks it's a struggle

00:49:06.190 --> 00:49:08.630
to come up with a title for this episode. But

00:49:08.630 --> 00:49:12.070
I think you got it there with automated gullibility.

00:49:12.789 --> 00:49:17.670
I thought it was going to be an oasis or equals

00:49:17.670 --> 00:49:20.630
MC square. Yeah. An oasis. Good luck with that

00:49:20.630 --> 00:49:24.869
translation software. Yeah, that's not going

00:49:24.869 --> 00:49:29.300
to happen. Automated gullibility. You know, listeners,

00:49:29.460 --> 00:49:32.699
go to autosafety .org, click on donate. You're

00:49:32.699 --> 00:49:35.179
not automated or gullible. You're just a good

00:49:35.179 --> 00:49:38.119
person. You're a good person. Go to autosafety

00:49:38.119 --> 00:49:40.679
.org, click on donate. You're a good person.

00:49:40.980 --> 00:49:43.579
You know why I know you're a good person? Because

00:49:43.579 --> 00:49:45.679
unlike me, you probably have a fire extinguisher

00:49:45.679 --> 00:49:47.679
in your car. That's right. Before we jump into

00:49:47.679 --> 00:49:49.980
recalls, this is a good little article about

00:49:49.980 --> 00:49:51.679
you should have a fire extinguisher in your car.

00:49:51.760 --> 00:49:53.340
Now, I have a fire extinguisher in my kitchen.

00:49:53.699 --> 00:49:56.840
It's under the sink. I could get to it in a struggle.

00:49:57.679 --> 00:50:00.500
But I don't have a fire extinguisher in my car,

00:50:00.519 --> 00:50:02.559
unlike Mr. Brooks, who thinks he's better than

00:50:02.559 --> 00:50:06.179
me. Well, I mean, it's not it's not because I

00:50:06.179 --> 00:50:08.039
have a fire extinguisher in my car that I think

00:50:08.039 --> 00:50:11.559
that it's just it's a fire extinguisher car.

00:50:11.719 --> 00:50:14.360
You know, obviously, you know, I'll repeat this

00:50:14.360 --> 00:50:17.400
again and again, but vehicle fires are somewhat

00:50:17.400 --> 00:50:20.159
rare. I mean, you know, the odds of you being

00:50:20.159 --> 00:50:25.199
in one are. not exceedingly high. The odds of

00:50:25.199 --> 00:50:29.739
you coming across one are, you know, even a minor

00:50:29.739 --> 00:50:34.079
fire in a small collision, you know, a fire extinguisher

00:50:34.079 --> 00:50:36.519
could do a lot to protect, you know, your vehicle.

00:50:36.659 --> 00:50:38.760
I mean, it might be the difference between having

00:50:38.760 --> 00:50:42.719
a crispy vehicle after a minor collision or being

00:50:42.719 --> 00:50:45.199
able to put out something. that caught fire quickly

00:50:45.199 --> 00:50:48.780
and having minimal damage that you can have repaired.

00:50:49.199 --> 00:50:51.900
But beyond that, you know, if you come upon a

00:50:51.900 --> 00:50:54.019
situation where there's someone, you know, in

00:50:54.019 --> 00:50:57.079
a vehicle that could be trapped and you have

00:50:57.079 --> 00:51:00.119
the ability to put out that fire, I mean, I kind

00:51:00.119 --> 00:51:02.719
of think these things in this way, and I think

00:51:02.719 --> 00:51:05.119
a similar way about, you know, Narcan, you know,

00:51:05.119 --> 00:51:08.980
I... Don't ingest any opiate related drugs. But

00:51:08.980 --> 00:51:12.500
I do have a little pack of Narcan in case I come

00:51:12.500 --> 00:51:14.340
across someone who might be in that situation.

00:51:14.579 --> 00:51:16.519
And it's more a matter of guilt for me. Like

00:51:16.519 --> 00:51:19.539
if I come upon the scene knowing that I could

00:51:19.539 --> 00:51:22.260
have been prepared, but I didn't, I don't think

00:51:22.260 --> 00:51:25.280
I'd feel really good about myself. So I guess

00:51:25.280 --> 00:51:28.130
carrying the fire extinguisher with me. Hearing

00:51:28.130 --> 00:51:31.170
a fire extinguisher with me in the car makes

00:51:31.170 --> 00:51:34.769
me feel like I'm prepared for an eventuality

00:51:34.769 --> 00:51:38.030
that if, you know, if it does occur, I'm ready

00:51:38.030 --> 00:51:40.829
and, you know, hopefully can help someone or

00:51:40.829 --> 00:51:43.349
possibly help myself or put out a fire in my

00:51:43.349 --> 00:51:47.519
own car. But at the same time. It allows me to

00:51:47.519 --> 00:51:51.579
not not feel like I could have done something

00:51:51.579 --> 00:51:55.000
and failed at a later point. So, you know, fire

00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:57.000
extinguishers aren't super expensive. If you

00:51:57.000 --> 00:51:59.440
can afford one, get one of the you know, the

00:51:59.440 --> 00:52:02.599
regular the good old regular fire extinguisher

00:52:02.599 --> 00:52:04.380
was the one that was recommended. This article,

00:52:04.480 --> 00:52:10.420
basically the the ABC. And you can get a compact

00:52:10.420 --> 00:52:12.260
fire extinguisher. You can get a larger one.

00:52:12.920 --> 00:52:15.400
Mine is, you know, somewhat medium size. I'd

00:52:15.400 --> 00:52:19.420
say about, you know, probably a five to ten pound

00:52:19.420 --> 00:52:22.320
one. Where do I put it? They're great to have.

00:52:22.519 --> 00:52:25.400
I keep mine in my trunk. And most fire extinguishers

00:52:25.400 --> 00:52:27.119
you purchase, I think, will come with some type

00:52:27.119 --> 00:52:29.639
of kit where you can strap the fire extinguisher

00:52:29.639 --> 00:52:32.099
down. Believe me, you'll want to because it will

00:52:32.099 --> 00:52:34.880
roll around all day long if you don't fix it

00:52:34.880 --> 00:52:39.539
somewhere. But it's I would recommend having

00:52:39.539 --> 00:52:41.880
a fire extinguisher to everyone if that's, you

00:52:41.880 --> 00:52:45.400
know, if it's within your budget, you know, not

00:52:45.400 --> 00:52:47.800
everyone can afford just, you know, stick you

00:52:47.800 --> 00:52:50.880
to $100 items here and there just to buy for

00:52:50.880 --> 00:52:52.840
the off chance that they might see a vehicle

00:52:52.840 --> 00:52:56.280
fire occurring. But and, you know, having a fire,

00:52:56.380 --> 00:52:58.400
an extra fire extinguisher around if you have

00:52:58.400 --> 00:53:00.340
a house fire and you just have to run out to

00:53:00.340 --> 00:53:02.199
your car and grab it is also a good thing. So

00:53:02.199 --> 00:53:06.920
I think that it's a good idea. Okay. Well, you

00:53:06.920 --> 00:53:08.940
heard it here first. When you're at the Piggly

00:53:08.940 --> 00:53:11.860
Wiggly picking up your Narcan and your EpiPens,

00:53:12.039 --> 00:53:14.400
make sure to grab a fire extinguisher. Yeah,

00:53:14.400 --> 00:53:16.019
EpiPens are another good thing. Yeah, EpiPens

00:53:16.019 --> 00:53:17.340
are super expensive. You can't get EpiPens without

00:53:17.340 --> 00:53:20.280
a prescription either. That makes that more difficult.

00:53:20.380 --> 00:53:21.719
They're also like a thousand bucks. Benadryl,

00:53:21.719 --> 00:53:24.079
however. Keep Benadryl with you. Yeah, they were.

00:53:24.239 --> 00:53:26.340
Weren't they? Yeah, there's a patent on it. Was

00:53:26.340 --> 00:53:29.519
it Martin Shkreli or was it one of those? Those

00:53:29.519 --> 00:53:32.679
pharma bros that tried to boost the price of

00:53:32.679 --> 00:53:35.940
EpiPens back in the day. The drug itself is dirt

00:53:35.940 --> 00:53:37.900
cheap. It's the injector that they have a patent

00:53:37.900 --> 00:53:40.539
on that is very expensive. That's absurd. It

00:53:40.539 --> 00:53:44.699
is. It is. But with that, let's jump into recalls.

00:53:44.860 --> 00:53:48.039
And the first one up we have is from Hyundai.

00:53:48.940 --> 00:53:54.300
294 ,128 vehicles. The 2023 to 2026 Genesis G90.

00:53:54.699 --> 00:53:58.239
Same year as the Hyundai Ioniq 6. Oh, I like

00:53:58.239 --> 00:54:01.949
the Ioniq 6. The 2024 to 2026 Santa Fe hybrid

00:54:01.949 --> 00:54:05.590
and same year as the regular Santa Fe. The front

00:54:05.590 --> 00:54:07.909
seatbelts in the subject vehicles may not be

00:54:07.909 --> 00:54:09.750
sufficiently attached to the seat frame due to

00:54:09.750 --> 00:54:12.730
a damage snap on anchor. And I feel like we've

00:54:12.730 --> 00:54:15.590
come across this before with Hyundai specifically.

00:54:16.489 --> 00:54:19.010
If not, we've come across this recently with

00:54:19.010 --> 00:54:20.789
people with their seatbelt anchors not being

00:54:20.789 --> 00:54:23.070
here. Or am I just having lame dreams again?

00:54:23.130 --> 00:54:25.610
I'm dreaming. I mean, if I had to pin it down,

00:54:25.710 --> 00:54:29.110
I think there was something involving. Rivian

00:54:29.110 --> 00:54:31.489
vehicles and seatbelt anchors, but there've been

00:54:31.489 --> 00:54:33.530
a few lately that have involved either their

00:54:33.530 --> 00:54:37.230
seatbelt buckle, not properly latching the seat

00:54:37.230 --> 00:54:40.530
back, not properly working with the, I mean,

00:54:40.550 --> 00:54:43.329
you know, there's, I don't think I've seen one

00:54:43.329 --> 00:54:47.210
exactly like this from Hyundai, but essentially

00:54:47.210 --> 00:54:49.679
they're going to, they're going to. put a reinforcement

00:54:49.679 --> 00:54:52.760
clip onto the vehicles. I mean, obviously, this

00:54:52.760 --> 00:54:55.960
is a huge safety problem. If your seat belt isn't

00:54:55.960 --> 00:54:58.199
secured to the seat, it's not going to function

00:54:58.199 --> 00:55:00.199
properly and keep you restrained in a collision.

00:55:01.119 --> 00:55:05.059
And so they've come up with some type of retaining

00:55:05.059 --> 00:55:08.019
clip that's going to fix this issue. They've

00:55:08.019 --> 00:55:11.940
already put this into their manufacturing process,

00:55:12.179 --> 00:55:17.199
but it looks like it's going to be June before.

00:55:18.840 --> 00:55:21.480
They're going to be able to get the remedies

00:55:21.480 --> 00:55:24.280
out to owners by recall. So you've got a couple

00:55:24.280 --> 00:55:25.940
of months there where if you're driving one of

00:55:25.940 --> 00:55:28.019
these vehicles, you know, I would certainly be

00:55:28.019 --> 00:55:29.820
concerned that I'm driving around with a vehicle

00:55:29.820 --> 00:55:35.800
with a bad seat belt. So, you know, I think it

00:55:35.800 --> 00:55:37.760
might even be worth, you know, if this was me,

00:55:37.840 --> 00:55:40.380
I might even want to go visit my dealer and have

00:55:40.380 --> 00:55:43.099
them take an early inspection if they're willing

00:55:43.099 --> 00:55:48.760
to. Great. Next up. Mercedes -Benz 24 ,092 vehicles.

00:55:48.980 --> 00:55:51.139
Oh, Fred, your vehicle's in here. The 2018 to

00:55:51.139 --> 00:55:57.000
2020 Maybach S560 4MATIC. Same year, it's just

00:55:57.000 --> 00:56:00.320
not the Maybach version. A whole bunch of other

00:56:00.320 --> 00:56:04.300
dumb -name Mercedes vehicles. The 450 MATICs,

00:56:04.300 --> 00:56:07.659
4MATICs, and the coupes, the wagons, the cabriolets,

00:56:07.940 --> 00:56:12.360
the sedans. Pages and pages of silly, silly names.

00:56:14.219 --> 00:56:17.480
Let's see. The due to a loss of lubricant at

00:56:17.480 --> 00:56:20.920
the universal joint behave, which in the further

00:56:20.920 --> 00:56:22.340
course of operation can lead to the fracture

00:56:22.340 --> 00:56:24.760
of the universal joint. As a result, the connection

00:56:24.760 --> 00:56:26.820
between the transfer case and the front axle

00:56:26.820 --> 00:56:29.380
transmission would no longer be assured, and

00:56:29.380 --> 00:56:31.480
a loss of propulsion without warning cannot be

00:56:31.480 --> 00:56:34.099
ruled out. As a result, the risk of crash would

00:56:34.099 --> 00:56:38.820
increase. Huh? Now you're basically losing your

00:56:38.820 --> 00:56:41.420
driveshaft's ability to work. You're going to

00:56:41.420 --> 00:56:45.420
lose propulsion. You know, essentially you're

00:56:45.420 --> 00:56:47.480
stalled in the middle of the road or, you know,

00:56:47.500 --> 00:56:49.559
you lose propulsion while you're engaged in some

00:56:49.559 --> 00:56:52.019
type of maneuver that, you know, timing is important.

00:56:52.420 --> 00:56:55.519
Crossing a, you know, four lane highway or something

00:56:55.519 --> 00:56:58.860
like that where you need to get across your drivetrain

00:56:58.860 --> 00:57:03.480
fails and you're stuck and you're a target. So

00:57:03.480 --> 00:57:06.260
this is essentially I think they're going to.

00:57:07.630 --> 00:57:09.889
So you're going to go into the Mercedes dealer,

00:57:09.969 --> 00:57:11.809
they're going to check your driveshaft, see if

00:57:11.809 --> 00:57:15.630
it's damaged, see if it's got this defect, because

00:57:15.630 --> 00:57:20.150
not all of them have it. And then they will change

00:57:20.150 --> 00:57:23.610
the driveshaft, replace it if they find this

00:57:23.610 --> 00:57:25.150
condition. And it looks like that's going to

00:57:25.150 --> 00:57:27.969
be starting up in early June. Fred, for 1000

00:57:27.969 --> 00:57:31.690
points, name the American TV show that featured

00:57:31.690 --> 00:57:36.769
the fictional rock band named Driveshaft. I lose.

00:57:36.909 --> 00:57:39.829
It was on ABC. Michael, use your background as

00:57:39.829 --> 00:57:42.030
a hint. Michael's background is a beach scene.

00:57:43.170 --> 00:57:49.250
Oh, let's see. I don't know. Three's company.

00:57:49.510 --> 00:57:53.230
Lost. The answer was lost. That's right. All

00:57:53.230 --> 00:57:57.969
right. Final recall. Volkswagen 6077 vehicles.

00:57:58.010 --> 00:58:03.940
The 2026 Audi Q3. Let's see. The target data

00:58:03.940 --> 00:58:06.280
container for the sunroof control unit was programmed

00:58:06.280 --> 00:58:08.820
incorrectly. As a result, the sunroof closing

00:58:08.820 --> 00:58:12.599
function may not comply with FMVSS number 118,

00:58:12.760 --> 00:58:15.199
power operated window partition and roof parallel

00:58:15.199 --> 00:58:19.599
systems. So what happens? Does this start closing

00:58:19.599 --> 00:58:22.539
on my hand if I have my hand in the way? It's

00:58:22.539 --> 00:58:24.639
not even that. It looks like the problem is that

00:58:24.639 --> 00:58:28.559
they're allowing remote closure of the sunroof,

00:58:28.639 --> 00:58:32.780
which means that. And I'm assuming that it doesn't

00:58:32.780 --> 00:58:36.059
have an auto reverse function, which FNDSS 118

00:58:36.059 --> 00:58:40.119
requires in certain circumstances. So the theory

00:58:40.119 --> 00:58:44.360
is here, you could be, you know, this is really

00:58:44.360 --> 00:58:47.440
bad parenting, but you could be in a grocery

00:58:47.440 --> 00:58:49.340
store parking lot. You left your kids in the

00:58:49.340 --> 00:58:52.550
car. Yeah, you could be a piggly wiggly and you

00:58:52.550 --> 00:58:54.170
left your kids in the car, which you shouldn't

00:58:54.170 --> 00:58:56.429
do. But, you know, which is something that I

00:58:56.429 --> 00:58:58.570
think a lot of us experienced in the 70s before

00:58:58.570 --> 00:59:03.809
we were smarter. And, you know, the kids could

00:59:03.809 --> 00:59:06.210
be playing out of the open, you know, playing.

00:59:06.690 --> 00:59:08.969
If I'm going to open sunroof and I'm stuck in

00:59:08.969 --> 00:59:11.690
a hot car, where am I going to be out the sunroof?

00:59:11.750 --> 00:59:15.090
You know, probably yelling things at other patrons

00:59:15.090 --> 00:59:19.460
at the grocery store and acting like a kid. You

00:59:19.460 --> 00:59:23.480
could actuate that remotely without even being

00:59:23.480 --> 00:59:26.059
near the vehicle, without even being able to

00:59:26.059 --> 00:59:29.699
check to see if anyone is inside of the frame

00:59:29.699 --> 00:59:32.659
of the sunroof. And without an auto reverse function,

00:59:33.019 --> 00:59:35.460
then you're going to you could see some serious

00:59:35.460 --> 00:59:38.739
injuries or death associated with it. And so

00:59:38.739 --> 00:59:42.139
essentially, FMVSS 118 wants to make sure that

00:59:42.139 --> 00:59:46.440
in situations where you don't have that function

00:59:46.440 --> 00:59:49.500
that, you know. I think it's the remote operation

00:59:49.500 --> 00:59:51.280
here that's the problem, because there's not

00:59:51.280 --> 00:59:54.880
a driver or an operator there to check for a

00:59:54.880 --> 00:59:59.119
human or other obstruction in the in the sunroof.

00:59:59.199 --> 01:00:03.360
Well, listeners, just like FMVSS 118, we care

01:00:03.360 --> 01:00:05.719
about your safety. And with that, we'll be back

01:00:05.719 --> 01:00:09.800
next week. Bye bye. Bye bye. Thank you for listening.

01:00:11.619 --> 01:00:14.670
Michael, this is where you say goodbye. I'm just

01:00:14.670 --> 01:00:17.190
thinking about leaving and going to the post

01:00:17.190 --> 01:00:20.670
office to pay my taxes. Stop thinking. Start

01:00:20.670 --> 01:00:24.530
addressing the issue. Start yelling at patrons

01:00:24.530 --> 01:00:26.250
in the parking lot. All right, I'm clicking stop.

01:00:26.570 --> 01:00:30.969
For more information, visit www .autosafety .org.