3mo ago

Car safety experts at NHTSA, which regulates Tesla, axed by DOGE

The TL;DR in one quote:

Job cuts at the US traffic safety regulator instigated by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency disproportionately hit staff assessing self-driving risks, hampering oversight of technology on which the world’s richest man has staked the future of Tesla.

An interesting quote from a Tesla manager:

“Letting Doge fire those in the autonomous division is sheer madness—we should be lobbying to add people to NHTSA,” said one manager at Tesla. They “need to be developing a national framework for AVs, otherwise Tesla doesn’t have a prayer for scale in FSD or robotaxis.”

53 comments

Cars aren't safe anymore by standards and tests, they are now safe by declaration.
And Us American declarations are the best declarations in the whole world.
Therefore all the world is going to trust in Us American cars, finally.
And they are so much safer now than European cars, because Us American declarations are so superior to European safety standards and tests.
- It’s been going on a long time, look at how cozy Boeing was with regulators
  
  Boeing want cozy with them, it employed them, and when they spoke up about it, they ended up dead. Whether from a conspiracy, or depression at the state or their careers and conscience, Boeing and the agency capture that allows shitty planes to exist bears the responsibility.
- Man, idk. If I buy a foreign car, say a Hyundai Ionique (the new sexy one) how do I know it's manufactured to other international standards and not specifically American standards?
  
  how do I know it's manufactured to other international standards and not specifically American standards?
  Well, you don't need to know anymore now :)
  But if you are in Europe, the standards are still in force. No cars may be sold that do not meet these requirements. The manufacturer must declare the conformity for each model, and in addition they are tested by independent organisations sometimes.
  
  Presumably before you buy something as expensive as a new car, I'd assume you'd look at reviews.
  You'd be able to see the car's Euro NCAP ratings, which, to be frank, were always much more comprehensive in testing than NHTSA anyway.
- Yeeeeuuup.
  This is certainly going to improve the prospects of assembled in US cars getting exported...
  Oh well, fuck it all I guess, burn it all down.
  I'm sure Elon will try suing the EU to force them to buy his cars next.
  That is how the free market works: When people don't wanna buy what you are selling, threaten to sue them for not volunarily agreeing to purchase your service or product.
  
  It’s not like the US auto industry is a key sector of the economy or anything.
  That’s why it was so silly that Obama bailed them out, right? They’re only like 5% of the GDP. 5% is a little baby number.
  God this country is power sliding into an another Great Recession. What do these idiots think they’re gonna do when a good chunk of the population loses their homes and comfortable lives because of them? A population with nothing to lose, lots of guns floating around, and no prospects for improvement under the current administration should be a very scary future for any leader.
  I’d ask if they remember the French Revolution, but these fuckers seem to want to go back to a time before that.
They say regulations are written in blood.
Elaine Chao is a conservative government official who is famous for not enforcing safety rules or following up on safety complaints and may have violated ethics laws while Secretary of Transportation under Trump’s first regime. While in that role, she rubber stamped a sketchy driver control system implemented by Tesla that later helped kill her own sister (in addition to drunk driving).
Can the lightning bolt of consequences strike twice?
- Back in the day where giving Mitch McConnel's wife a cushy job was path to fascism.
- You couldn't make this shit up...
sheer madness
I would expect nothing less! We elected a mad king on purpose. Thus, I fully expect the finest anti-intellectualism Elon can buy.
In case you need another reason not to buy a Tesla.
- In a few years most of the world probably won't even be able to. It took Chinese cars decades to come to the worldwide and especially the EU market because nobody in China was developing and manufacturing cars that would pass western safety regulations.
  If the only way for Tesla to stay competitive in the US is by loosening the US regulations, they'll end up with an ecosystem that can only be sold and used in the US. For example, how the Cybertruck is entirely unroadworthy in the EU.
  I'm just waiting for the day EU declares that self-driving systems need to be able to detect a wall, even if there is a picture of an open road on it, and stop. It would mean Tesla wouldn't be able to pass it due to Musk insisting on only using cameras and removing all other sensors.
  
  Pretty much this. The US will now end up with an automotive ecosystem (including fun things like ambulances, firetrucks, buses, etc) where everything is built as cheaply and dangerously as possibly profitable (see: Pinto et al). Sure, the autos we build here aren't going to be able to be sold anywhere with a functioning regulatory body, but that's OK because we managed to save $20 on each car we build by not having to include pesky things like airbags or a steering column that won't impale you in a crash or a body that won't telescope into you and crush you.
Be car reliant nation Remove car safety
Hilarious
It's almost as if the fascist apartheid baby has an agenda behind all of this.
Tbh this is really frustrating. As many car crashes I ran in my 15 years in EMS, NHTSA has probably saved more lives in the last twenty years than the Dept of Public Health, especially once you consider how for much of America, there really is no alternative to driving.
I do not see a conflict of interest. 🙈
This would be REALLY CORRUPT if Elon was the President! FORTUNATELY that's NOT the Case! They would NEVER let an ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT like HIM to do that!
Ahh, the sole reason I can stomach the way auto prices have inflated over the past 20 years.
- Elon rather keep it as profit. Imagine how money he'll save by not have to setup a lifesaving pyrotechnics ballet in every car.
Plot twist: NHTSA are the only people that approve new designs, so Tesla can't sell any more cars.
Well we can dream.
- I think this is unironically what they are going for everywhere: delegating regulation to industry, as is the case to some extent in aviation. If they get their way, they won't need approval from the NHTSA or any other agency, because they will self-approve and likely even shape regulation themselves.
  
  Boeing (just one example) has been pushing for lower or self regulation for a while.
  That was part of what led to the 737-MAX issue:
  https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/boeing-pushed-faa-to-arelax-737-max-certification-requirements-for-crew-alerts/
  Airlines concerned for safety will be moving away from Boeing if the deregulation continues.
  The libertarian BS is going to set America back a century - in many respects.
To be completely fair the American government currently does this with inflation, among other things. Actually inflationary item? Whoops we removed it from the calculation. All good here, boss. Sweeping something you don't want to account for "under the rug" is practically normalized in this government. It isn't right- obviously... but this isn't really shocking either.
The elephant? Where? In this room?! We don't talk about that.
I won't buy any American car newer than 2024.
- Neither will the rest of the world, if their cars fail the safety requirements in all the other countries.
FFS, someone end this already
Do the cars not have to be certified? It seems to me that fewer employees just means longer delays for certifications, not easier certifications
- The NHTSA doesn’t actually certify anything.
  They write the standards that vehicles and products must follow, but it’s up to the manufacturers to certify themselves as being compliant.
  This explains how the cyber trucks, with no third party testing, are considered road legal in the US and basically no other country.
  So Elon is not firing regulators that will deny his cars a certification, he’s firing regulators that decide what the requirements will be.
  Thats so much worse.
  Source for anyone interested. It’s a reply to a man wanting to import air bags, but the letter does give a nice overview of the laws.
  
  The Cybertruck doesn't violate any US laws, there's nothing to disallow it, and independent testing gave it 5 star saftey rating.
  And while OEMs do self certify, they get spot checked to ensure compliance. There's too many new vehicles and variants for the NHSTA/EPA etc. to ever check every single one in detail.
  Edit: and if you really wanna get into it, most of the other OEMs everyone wants to love actually put defeat devices for said spot checking to lie and kill us sooner with bad air for $$$
Great, now they can rear-end motorcycle riders even more often
The real reason elon is doing this....
- no conflict of interest, none at all
What is DOGE again ? (I was living under a rock)
- Online banker man turned electric car salesman bought that website you used to use to tell your friends about what the dentist's waiting room was like or whatever (or yell at celebrities I guess) and used it to help that guy who fired people on tv become president. In return banker car man gets put in charge of shiny new government agency and given the power to fire basically whatever government employees he wants, also his private security detail is deputized by the US Marshals Service, also he has your social security number, probably
  I think that should about cover it unless someone else wants to add more detail. But I think I was very thorough.
  
  You forgot about the ketamine and the blown apart dick
- The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)[b] is an initiative of the second Trump administration tasked with cutting federal spending which it characterizes as "waste, fraud, and abuse".[8] It emerged from discussions between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, and was established by executive order on January 20, 2025. DOGE's actions have included accessing government data systems; organizing mass layoffs of federal workers; and cutting climate change initiatives, scientific research, and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs.
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Government_Efficiency

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