Safety Expert Amy Witherite Warns: Autonomous Truckers Wanting Exemptions from Basic Safety Rules

Dallas, Texas (Date) – Just as companies are about to put driverless trucks on our highways some operators are asking for exemption from basic safety rules that govern others commercial motor vehicles.

Both Waymo LLC and Aurora Operations filed a petition with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to exempt them from requiring drivers to display ground-based reflective signs or road flares when a truck is stopped on a highway or shoulder.   

“This basic safety precaution has been shown to be effective to preventing rear end collisions when drivers do not realize that a tractor-trailer or other truck is stopped often with fatal consequences,” said attorney and safety expert Amy Witherite. “The lack of adequate regulations for self-driving vehicles presents a safety hazard for all of us who use our nation’s highways.”

“This issue is especially significant in states such as Texas and Georgia where companies have already made large investments and have announced plans to put driverless trucks on the road this year.”

According to published reports the autonomous trucks would have a warning beacon on the cab rather than the multiple reflective triangles and flares that are placed behind the trailer in the event it is disabled or parked.

Fortunately, FMCSA denied the company’s requests based on a lack of data that showed the proposal was safe. The agency ruled that “Applicants Do Not Demonstrate an Equivalent Level of Safety Supporting the Full Scope of the Exemption Sought.”

“There are currently no meaningful regulations at the federal or state level to regulate the vehicles,” said Witherite. “Regulators and lawmakers need to wake up to the fact that these companies should not be allowed to police their own operations if they want to share our streets and highways with the public.”