Calif. DMV Posts Autonomous Vehicle Accident Reports on Its Site

The California Department of Motor Vehicles will now post all autonomous-vehicle accident reports on its website, a Consumer Watchdog news release said Friday. CW suggested the DMV make the reports available online so the public has information readily available when something goes wrong on U.S. highways, which the group says are being used as “corporate laboratories for robot car makers.” CW Privacy Project Director John Simpson welcomed the DMV’s decision to make the reports available, but said further steps are necessary. CW has petitioned the DMV (see 1508200028) and asked for a rulemaking process that would require police to investigate crashes and require copies of any video or technical data gathered by the robot vehicle related to the crash be provided to the department, the release said. “Under the current regulations, the Department relies completely on the testing company’s account of what happened,” Simpson said. “With the public’s safety at stake, it’s imperative that a neutral third party investigates any accident involving a robot car,” he said.