Exploring the Safety of Autonomous Vehicles through Humor and Rhetoric

Hazardous robo-taxis, the government's role in safeguarding—or failing to safeguard—the public and how to draw your own crosswalk is the TLDR. Bloomberg reporter Steve Man becomes an PR flak for Tesla, Sean P. Duffy updates the part 555 exemption process (also known as, Look ma, no pedals), Mitsubishi gets into battery swapping and recalls galore.

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This weeks links:

• https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/streamline-exemption-process-noncompliant
• https://electrek.co/2025/06/16/bloomberg-most-embarassing-report-tesla-waymo-self-driving/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyuOQeaJZSk
• https://electrek.co/2025/06/14/mitsubishi-debuts-ev-battery-swap-network-for-cars-and-trucks-in-tokyo/
• https://www.29news.com/2025/05/22/charlottesville-activist-facing-vandalism-charges-makeshift-crosswalk/
• https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/06/smart-tires-will-report-on-the-health-of-roads-in-new-pilot-program/
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/sonariglinton/2025/06/16/road-deaths-surge-and-black-families-suffer-most/
• https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2025/RCLRPT-25V387-6543.pdf
• https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2025/RCLRPT-25V375-8701.pdf
• https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2025/RCLRPT-25V376-0305.pdf
• https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2025/RCLRPT-25V379-5861.pdf
• https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2025/RCLRPT-25V369-0728.pdf