Wondering why Cybertrucks are allowed on the road? Because this is literally how auto safety regulations works in the US. Every vehicle is assumed compliant until proven otherwise by underpaid bureaucrats, at public expense
I'll forever keep my simple explainer of FMVSS compliance:
Put a sticker on it.
That's it, the end. Just need a sticker stating that you think your product meets all required safety standards and you accept civil liability should this be proven false
don’t forget everyone in auto world going “huh, how’d vw do diesels clean enough without a urea system?” and then it turned out there were just lying lol
To be fair, there are Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) that specify design, performance, and durability requirements for vehicles. Manufacturers must certify their cars meet these standards before selling them, and the NHTSA *does* conduct tests and investigations.
Right: manufacturers say they comply with the rules and NHTSA checks the homework on a few random examples every year. Very different than the "type approval" approach used in Europe and elsewhere, where 3rd parties must certify that vehicles are in compliance.
fun fact: this is also how food safety is managed, eg gluten-free or allergy-free claims.
no legal requirements for testing, no oversight, and no legal punishments even if they are outright lies. they don’t even force recalls if, eg, a company puts wheat waffles in a box marked gluten-free.
So he somehow plans to sell millions of these things a year in only three countries?
It is truly incredible how you can tell exactly which decisions Musk stepped in and didn’t himself vs letting someone who knows how to make cars do it.
You might not have even missed it.
AutoCorrect has started changing words in my text sometimes seconds after I've stopped typing and am in the middle of reaching for the post button.
Since apparently our spellchecker are all LLM's now 🙃
I'm moderately reassured that this isn't the case in Canada for manufacturers and importers. (Though it seems that someone could drive up in one as a tourist (i.e., for their personal use) without it needing to be certified as safe per the standards here.)
People have also grown used to preorders which gives even less accountability for delivery of bad goods. Depending on the car, you could wait months if not a year to arrive.
This is also true for dietary supplements sold in the U.S. They are almost never tested for efficacy, safety, or even to check that they contain what they say on the label. Only when they're reported to the FDA. You can thank the usual anti-science crowd for this.
Also it's not a substitute for regulation that would keep these deathtraps off the street in the first place!
Theoretically the company is supposed to be afraid of getting sued, and this would motivate them to make safe vehicles, but clearly that's not how things work anymore.
Well, if good people stopped dodging jury duty and started valuing human pain and suffering at a level on par with the value of a decent mid-sized mega-corporation, and fixed Campbell v. State Farm, the civil justice system could force business to internalize costs.
Reminds me of how some scientific journals standard for publishing a study is just paying a fee. That's how so much junk-science gets a veneer of credibility.
