When automated cars become a consumer good I would certainly agree with the more stringent approach but I think light regulation is fine until that happens and also that Google et al will be pushing for that when the time comes. The thing that makes the FAA such a model of effectiveness compared to other regulatory bodies is that it's interests are aligned with the industry as a whole. When a plane (or driverless car) crashes everybody in the industry suffers a loss of business. Everybody would like to slack off a bit on safety themselves while their competitors are held to the highest standards, of course, but they'd mostly all rather have high standards as a general rule so the regulatory capture that occurs makes the FAA more focused on safety. All because consumers have alternatives to flying and are intrinsically more scared of flying than of other means of transportation.
And it will be the same with automated cars. People are intrinsically predisposed to not trust automated cars and people will still be perfectly capable of driving cars themselves. In order for automated cars to take off it's important that you don't have Bob's Drive By Night autocars crashing and killing lots of people and the Google's and Ubers of the world know that.
And it will be the same with automated cars. People are intrinsically predisposed to not trust automated cars and people will still be perfectly capable of driving cars themselves. In order for automated cars to take off it's important that you don't have Bob's Drive By Night autocars crashing and killing lots of people and the Google's and Ubers of the world know that.