The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Administrator, Jonathan Morrison, on Wednesday criticized autonomous vehicles, as well as the companies operating them, following instances of AVs interfering with law enforcement, as well as firefighters' and paramedics' operations.
Morrison Demands Fix By the End of July Morrison, in a letter, said the agency wants companies to deliver fixes by the end of the month, saying that the agency had identified a "clear pattern of driverless AVs interfering with law enforcement and other first responders." Read Also: NHTSA Closes Investigation Into 695,000 Tesla Vehicles Over Braking Issue—GM Recalls Over 14,500 Vistiq EVs The problem was a safety shortfall, Morrison said, adding that the agency had received reports of robotaxis entering live incident areas, blocking the paths of ambulances or firefighters, among other problems.
Tesla, Waymo, Zoox, NHTSA and Uber did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment.
In the letter, Morrison said that "an AV that cannot safely interact with first responders is a danger to the general public," adding that NHTSA expected the autonomous driving companies to "prioritize first responder interactions" with AVs.
