• Trump’s transition team is aiming to draft a federal self-driving car standard, per recent reports
  • Insiders say former Uber exec Emil Michael may be tapped to be transportation secretary 
  • Also: a new reports suggests Teslas are involved in more fatal crashes than any other brand

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Donald Trump’s transition team is wasting no time. Last week, the new administration announced it would seek to eliminate the USD$7,500 EV consumer tax credit initiated by the Biden regime. Now, less than two weeks after the November 5 election — and barely 10 days after Motor Mouth predicted this would be the quid pro quo that Elon Musk would extract for his support of the Republican agenda — comes news the incoming government will craft a new federal standard for autonomous self-driving automobiles.

If new rules enable cars without human controls, it will directly benefit Elon Musk, the Tesla Inc. CEO and Trump mega-donor who’s become a powerful fixture in the president-elect’s inner circle,” said Bloomberg in a breaking article. “He’s bet the future of the EV maker on self-driving technology and artificial intelligence.”

According to Bloomberg, while the American Transportation Department can direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to craft regulation that would allow a single, national standard for cars without steering wheels, a bill from Congress would not only be speedier, but “would clear the way for mass adoption of self-driving cars.”

The transition team, according to insiders, is reportedly looking to appoint as transportation secretary Emil Michael, a former executive with Uber, another company that has promised completely robotic-driven taxis. Nonetheless, it’s almost impossible to believe GOP lawmakers would write such a bill without input from Mr. Musk, who is without a doubt, the leading expert in the field—at least in the Republican party.

The remains of a Tesla vehicle are seen after it crashed in The Woodlands, Texas, April 17, 2021, in this still image from video obtained via social media
The remains of a Tesla vehicle are seen after it crashed in The Woodlands, Texas, April 17, 2021, in this still image from video obtained via social mediaPhoto by Scott J. Engle /Reuters

If a recent Road & Track article is any indication, he will need all the insider help he can get to make the rules favourable to Tesla’s camera-based self-driving systems. According to the magazine’s latest headline, “Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate of all auto brands.” Citing data from a recent iSeeCars study conducted for the 2018 to 2022 model years, Teslas suffer fatal collisions some 5.6 times per billion vehicle miles travelled. R&T says that’s exactly twice as frequent as the U.S. national average.

It also says the Model Y has 10.6 fatal crashes per billion miles, about four times the national average. (It is, however, not the worst offender on a model level; the Hyundai Venue averages 13.9 fatal collisions per billion vehicle miles driven.)

According to iSeeCars and the magazine, it’s worth noting the 2024 Model Y garnered the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Top Safety Pick+ award, and that “many of the other cars that ranked highly” in fatal collisions have been given high safety ratings by the IIHS and the NHTSA.

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