Half Century Post-Corvair, Ralph Nader Forecasts Troubles Ahead With Driverless Cars
The uproar over whether Tesla Motors' (TSLA) - Get Report Autopilot is safe or must be recalled by Tesla is precisely the sort of controversy that exists because of Ralph Nader, arguably the godfather of U.S. consumer and product-safety advocacy.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration earlier this month began an engineering study of Autopilot, which may lead to a recall. That's the same NHTSA that was created 50 years ago this September largely as a result of lobbying led by Nader. He was a guest of honor at the 1966 White House signing of the enabling act by President Lyndon Johnson.
The disclosure of NHTSA's study roughly coincided with the news that the Automotive Hall of Fame had decided to induct Nader. The ceremony will take place in Detroit next Thursday evening. Former Ford (F) - Get Report CEO Alan Mulally will be among the inductees as well.
The irony of Nader's selection by the industry elite to its pantheon of heroes is rich, since in the 1960s he was perhaps the most reviled figure the Motor City had ever beheld. His 1965 book, Unsafe at Any Speed, condemned General Motors' (GM) - Get Report Chevrolet Corvair and vilified the engineers and executives who green-lighted its manufacture. More importantly, he founded the Center for Auto Safety and served on behalf of Consumers Union.
Oh, Nader also ran for president five times, winning nearly 100,000 votes in 2000 in Florida, where George Bush prevailed over Al Gore in the disputed election that was decided by 537 votes.
At age 82, Nader remains relevant, outspoken and a vital advocate for enhanced vehicle safety. He never could have predicted that the advent of digital technology and artificial intelligence would elevate automotive safety to a new level, with driverless cars a distinct probability within a few years. Cars driving themselves will be inherently safer, automakers insist, because human error will be removed from the equation.
Nader begs to differ. For him, autonomous technology -- sometimes touted as driverless, though requiring driver attention -- is leading to accidents like the one that famously befell the driver of a Tesla Model S in May, leading to NHTSA's probe. The driver was killed when his car, with Autopilot enabled, slid under a semi-trailer.
Autonomous is "leading to the emerging great hazard on the highway, which is distracted driving," Nader said last November. The auto industry wants "to turn cars into entertainment arenas, mobile offices. Distracted driving is already generating thousands of deaths per year. They are ballyhooing the driverless cars when the algorithms are nowhere near as specific as serendipitous situations on the road in congested traffic."
Keith Crain, editor of Automotive News, credits Nader for saving more lives than anyone in the industry. In 1965, the fatality rate on U.S. roads was 5.5 deaths per hundred million miles driven. By 2014, the rate had fallen to slightly more than one death per hundred million miles driven. (When NHTSA was created, the industry was still resisting mandatory seat-belt installation, much less their use).
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, may one day be nominated to the Automotive Hall of Fame. First, Musk and Tesla will have to meet --and possibly exceed -- the public's heightened expectations and demands for vehicle safety set by Nader.
Doron Levin is the host of "In the Driver Seat," broadcast on SiriusXM Insight 121, Saturday at noon, encore Sunday at 9 a.m.
This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.