Donald Trump has voiced his distrust toward driverless cars numerous times, but his administration continues to work toward getting the automated vehicles on the street.
Donald Trump may rule one of the most technologically-advanced countries in the world, but he remains terrified of driverless cars.
Trump sides with the majority (71%) of Americans who said they would be afraid to ride in a self-driving car, but his policies contradict his fear.
The president’s own administration has made a point of encouraging the autonomous vehicle revolution by removing legal barriers that restrict growth in the industry. They also have only offered voluntary guidance instead of passing tangible regulations on the growing industry.
Trump has also reportedly acted out what it would be like to crash in a driverless cars, according to unnamed White House sources.
‘You know when he’s telling a story, and he does the hand motions,’ a source told Axios.
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‘He says, “Can you imagine, you’re sitting in the back seat and all of a sudden this car is zig-zagging around the corner and you cant stop the fucking thing?”‘
Trump’s view has remained in line with his, at times, skeptical generation, which has seen countless modern advancements over their lifetimes.
In the summer of 2017, Trump was at his Bedminster gold club talking about autonomous vehicle technology when a club member expressed their excitement over a new Tesla they bought with ‘autopilot’ capabilities, according to a source.
‘And (Trump) was like, “Yeah that’s cool but I would never get in a self-driving car…I don’t trust come computer to drive me around.’
While Trump is performing one-man skits about fatal driverless car crashes, his Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has been actively promoting the new technology.
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At the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference last week, Chao announced the formation of a new governmental agency, the Emerging Technology Council, to expedite the adoption of cutting-edge transportation methods, such as self-driving cars and hyperloop tunnels.
Right now, there is no federal regulations on driverless cars, so every state is tasked with setting their own rules until a decision is made on a countrywide level, although Trump’s support seems unlikely.
‘He’s definitely an automated car skeptic,’ said one unnamed source, while another added that Trump has said that self-driving cars ‘will never work.’
