ilene

As the push for self-driving cars nears fruition, Congress has a bit of work to do.

A national solution is the key, not a hodge-podge of state regulations with states saying and doing a number of different things.

A House bill dubbed the Highly Automated Vehicle Testing and Deployment Act of 2017, is now in the works. It will give the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration broad oversight of the self-driving car industry.

The New York Times reports As Self-Driving Cars Near, Washington Plays Catch-Up

On Wednesday, a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee voted to advance a bill that would speed up the development of self-driving cars and establish a federal framework for their regulation. The bill, known as the Highly Automated Vehicle Testing and Deployment Act of 2017, is the first major federal effort to regulate autonomous vehicles, and would give the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration broad oversight of the self-driving car industry. A full committee vote on the measure is expected next week, and the bill could go before the entire House this fall.

The Senate is also playing catch-up. Last month, a bipartisan group of senators announced that it was working toward its own version of an autonomous vehicle bill, which would prioritize “safety, fixing outdated rules, and clarifying the role of federal and state governments” in regulating self-driving cars.

Self-driving cars have been praised by members of both parties, who see the technology as a way to spur job creation while preventing many of the roughly 40,000 motor vehicle deaths that occur on American roads each year. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 94 percent of traffic deaths involve human error, including distracted driving and driving while intoxicated.

Self-driving cars would obviate those problems, even if they would introduce new fears. (One well-publicized accident, a fatal 2016 crash involving a Tesla that was set to “autopilot” mode by its owner, sparked worries among regulators, who later concluded that Tesla’s driver-assistance system was not to blame for the accident.)

“These vehicles are going to be developed, and I want to make sure we’re developing them in this country, not China, India or the European Union,” said Ms. Dingell, a former auto lobbyist and General Motors executive whose district includes the headquarters of Ford Motor

As noted by the Guardian and other sources, German human rights consultant Peter Steudtner was detained at a human rights workshop on Monday with five others including Amnesty International’s country director, Idil Eser, for allegedly aiding a terror group.

In response, Germany issued a meaningless statement urging “caution” to which the Turkish foreign ministry hit back, accusing Germany of “blackmail and threats” and “direct interference in the Turkish judiciary”.

Eurointelligence is spot on with its analysis of the situation.

The situation in Turkey is very dangerous, especially now after the imprisonment of the German human rights activist Peter Steudtner on trumped-up charges of aiding terrorists.

Sigmar Gabriel, the German foreign minister, yesterday called Merkel to seek a coalition agreement to warn German travelers to be careful when traveling to Turkey. This is not an official travel warning, which would have significant consequences. It would, for example, have allowed people to cancel existing travel bookings for the summer holiday without penalty. It would have allowed travel insurance providers to exclude Turkey from the list of insured countries. It would have had severe implications for German investment in Turkey. This policy of issuing a de facto but not de jure travel warning is a rather weak response

To distant observers it must sound shocking to learn that the EU’s relations with Turkey have been almost business-as-usual. Merkel and the EU seem willing to do anything to ensure that the refugee deal with Turkey won’t collapse. The response to Turkey’s persistent human right abuses shows us how weak Germany, and the EU in general, have become after accepting the morally questionable refugee deal with President Erdogan in 2016. The EU has abandoned any pretence of having an interest in human rights, and regards the introduction of the death penalty as the only red line in EU-Turkey relations. The EU thus remains committed to maintaining the façade of a political process that could eventually lead to Turkish EU membership. We would presume that the Turkish leader regards the feeble response from Berlin and Brussels as encouragement to continue to wield the leverage he has over the EU.

The EU has abandoned any pretense of having an interest in human rights, and regards the introduction of the death penalty as the only red line in EU-Turkey relations. The EU thus remains committed to maintaining the façade of a

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