From my perspective in the US, the NHTSA which investigates crashes, regulates automobile safety, and handles recalls, etc, seems highly competent regarding general auto safety and investigating issues.
But politicians and the press by and large were drinking the self-driving Kool-Aid for the last 10 years, and so there’s some level of political risk for the NHTSA to clamp down hard on something politicians have bought into without some level of popular outrage to back them up. So I think not exactly “given up” but more “afraid to poke the hornets’ nest”.
Although as self-driving proves more and more to be a dud/fraud, I hope that changes. I’ve been surprised they didn’t take a stronger stance on it after the spate of crashes into emergency vehicles on shoulder, but they may have been (perhaps rightly) afraid blowback from Trump would gut their powers entirely.
But politicians and the press by and large were drinking the self-driving Kool-Aid for the last 10 years, and so there’s some level of political risk for the NHTSA to clamp down hard on something politicians have bought into without some level of popular outrage to back them up. So I think not exactly “given up” but more “afraid to poke the hornets’ nest”.
Although as self-driving proves more and more to be a dud/fraud, I hope that changes. I’ve been surprised they didn’t take a stronger stance on it after the spate of crashes into emergency vehicles on shoulder, but they may have been (perhaps rightly) afraid blowback from Trump would gut their powers entirely.