De Blasio isn't on board with new legislation for self-driving cars in NYC

Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced new legislation that will allow General Motors and Cruise Automation to test Level 4 self-driving cars in New York State beginning in 2018 but Mayor Bill de Blasio is far from being on-board with the plan.

One of the issues that Mayor de Blasio has with Cuomo’s plan is that testing of the vehicles could have an impact on his Vision Zero initiative that has been working to decrease the number of pedestrian deaths. Furthermore, de Blasio claims that the governor hasn’t consulted with the city’s Department of Transportation and the New York Police Department, who will ultimately be the ones tasked with dealing with whatever safety concerns arise from autonomous cars, reports the Observer.

“I really don’t like it. I think it’s a mistake. I think that it creates a danger,” said de Blasio in a statement. “The last thing we wanna do is create a potential new danger so we’re gonna be very aggressive in saying this is not a good idea unless it is carefully vetted.”

A spokesperson for Cuomo’s office asserted through tweets that the city “was alerted months ago and was alerted again before the announcement was made.”

• GM will be the first company to test self-driving cars in New York City [The Verge]
• De Blasio Calls Bringing Self-Driving Cars to New York a ‘Mistake’ [Observer]