Consumer advocate Ralph Nader** has released an open letter to Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi condemning the company’s efforts to limit legal accountability for crashes involving rideshare drivers and autonomous vehicles. It objects to Uber’s push for federal legislation sponsored by Representative Vince Fong (Republican – Bakersfield, CA) that would limit the company’s legal exposure for crashes involving drivers using its platform.*
“Uber is actively pursuing legal and legislative changes in California and at the federal level that would weaken its accountability for injuries and deaths tied to its platform and the autonomous vehicle systems Uber is now rapidly deploying,” Nader wrote. “These efforts are not technical adjustments to litigation rules. They represent a fundamental attempt to undermine the rights of injured people and reduce corporate responsibility at the very moment rising autonomous systems are being tested on public roads at scale.”
“Uber’s efforts in California are now being mirrored in Congress through the amendment sponsored by Representative Vince Fong, cynically advanced during a 2 AM House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee vote over Memorial Day weekend,” Nader wrote. “That amendment would provide sweeping protections for Uber against liability arising from crashes caused by drivers operating on its platform.”
Nader argues that weakening liability protections would be particularly dangerous as autonomous vehicle technology expands. He points to the 2018 death of pedestrian Elaine Herzberg, who was struck and killed by an Uber autonomous vehicle in Tempe, Arizona, as evidence of the need for strong legal accountability when autonomous systems fail.
“The lesson of the last sixty years is clear: accountability produces safety. Immunity produces casualties,” Nader wrote.
Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court said Nader’s warning reflects growing concern that Uber is attempting to shield itself from responsibility just as it expands its robotaxi ambitions.
“Ralph Nader helped create the accountability system that forced automakers to make cars safer and saved countless lives,” said Jamie Court. “Uber is trying to weaken that system at the precise moment autonomous vehicles are being rolled out on public roads. Nader’s message is simple: if Uber believes its technology is safe, it should be willing to stand behind it in court.”
Nader concludes his letter with a direct challenge to Uber’s leadership: “If you claim your technology is safe, you should not fear a legal system of accountability.”
*AutoInformed on
**[Nader’s 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed helped launch the auto safety movement AutoCrat.]
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Ralph Nader Arises Again in Uber Legal Accountability Bout
Consumer advocate Ralph Nader** has released an open letter to Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi condemning the company’s efforts to limit legal accountability for crashes involving rideshare drivers and autonomous vehicles. It objects to Uber’s push for federal legislation sponsored by Representative Vince Fong (Republican – Bakersfield, CA) that would limit the company’s legal exposure for crashes involving drivers using its platform.*
“Uber is actively pursuing legal and legislative changes in California and at the federal level that would weaken its accountability for injuries and deaths tied to its platform and the autonomous vehicle systems Uber is now rapidly deploying,” Nader wrote. “These efforts are not technical adjustments to litigation rules. They represent a fundamental attempt to undermine the rights of injured people and reduce corporate responsibility at the very moment rising autonomous systems are being tested on public roads at scale.”
“Uber’s efforts in California are now being mirrored in Congress through the amendment sponsored by Representative Vince Fong, cynically advanced during a 2 AM House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee vote over Memorial Day weekend,” Nader wrote. “That amendment would provide sweeping protections for Uber against liability arising from crashes caused by drivers operating on its platform.”
Nader argues that weakening liability protections would be particularly dangerous as autonomous vehicle technology expands. He points to the 2018 death of pedestrian Elaine Herzberg, who was struck and killed by an Uber autonomous vehicle in Tempe, Arizona, as evidence of the need for strong legal accountability when autonomous systems fail.
“The lesson of the last sixty years is clear: accountability produces safety. Immunity produces casualties,” Nader wrote.
Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court said Nader’s warning reflects growing concern that Uber is attempting to shield itself from responsibility just as it expands its robotaxi ambitions.
“Ralph Nader helped create the accountability system that forced automakers to make cars safer and saved countless lives,” said Jamie Court. “Uber is trying to weaken that system at the precise moment autonomous vehicles are being rolled out on public roads. Nader’s message is simple: if Uber believes its technology is safe, it should be willing to stand behind it in court.”
Nader concludes his letter with a direct challenge to Uber’s leadership: “If you claim your technology is safe, you should not fear a legal system of accountability.”
*AutoInformed on
**[Nader’s 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed helped launch the auto safety movement AutoCrat.]
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.