Attorney Amy Witherite: Red Flags Emerge Just as Elon Musk Plans to Put Robotaxis on Austin Streets
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A dispute between Tesla (TSLA.O) and the Reuters news organization is raising red flags just as Tesla plans to roll out Model Y robotaxis in Austin, Texas, warns attorney and safety expert Amy Witherite, founder of the Witherite Law Group. Tesla's challenging a Texas Public Records Act request by Reuters for its communications with Austin city officials.
In justifying the request an attorney for Reuters wrote that Tesla's intent to deploy the unproven technology on Texas roadways makes its plans 'an issue of enormous importance to Texas and the public at large' and underscored the public's right to know.
'If there was ever a need for complete transparency it is in the largely unregulated business of autonomous cars and trucks,' said Witherite, whose law firm represents the victims of auto and truck accidents.
According to the American Automobile Association's (AAA) latest survey on autonomous vehicles, only 13% of U.S. drivers would trust riding in self-driving vehicles – an increase from last year, when this number was 9%. Despite this slight increase, 6 in 10 U.S. drivers still report being afraid to ride in a self-driving vehicle.
'Currently there is no national safety performance standard for driverless vehicles,' notes Witherite. 'Regulators have generally given free rein to companies allowing them to test their technology in cities such as Austin at the expense of the public's safety.
Federal regulators are also asking Tesla tough questions. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently sent Tesla a letter demanding additional information "to assess the ability of Tesla's system to react appropriately to reduced roadway visibility conditions." The agency opened an investigation in October into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped with full self-driving (FSD) technology following four reported collisions, including a fatal one in 2023.
'If Tesla, or any other company, wants to put driverless vehicles on Austin streets they have an obligation to allow the public to be fully informed, especially since there are so many unanswered questions concerning the safety of these vehicles,' said Witherite.
The Texas Attorney General's office is reviewing Tesla's confidentiality claims and will determine what if any information can be released.
The Witherite Law Group specializes in vehicle accident cases and offers crucial support for individuals involved in accidents with driverless vehicles. For more information visit their website: www.witheritelaw.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
an hour ago
Trump signs measure blocking California's ban on new sales of gas-powered cars
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump signed a resolution on Thursday that blocks California's first-in-the-nation rule banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. The state quickly announced it was challenging the move in court, with California's attorney general holding a news conference to discuss the lawsuit before Trump's signing ceremony ended at the White House. The resolution was approved by Congress last month and aims to quash the country's most aggressive attempt to phase out gas-powered cars. Trump also signed measures to overturn state policies curbing tailpipe emissions in certain vehicles and smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution from trucks. Trump called California's regulations 'crazy' at a White House ceremony where he signed the resolutions. 'It's been a disaster for this country,' he said. It comes as the Republican president is mired in a clash with California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, over Trump's move to deploy troops to Los Angeles in response to immigration protests. It's the latest in an ongoing battle between the Trump administration and heavily Democratic California over issues including tariffs, the rights of LGBTQ+ youth and funding for electric vehicle chargers. The state is already involved in more than two-dozen lawsuits challenging Trump administration actions, and the state's Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the latest one at a news conference in California. Ten other states, all with Democratic attorneys general, joined the lawsuit filed Thursday. 'The federal government's actions are not only unlawful; they're irrational and wildly partisan,' Bonta said. 'They come at the direct expense of the health and the well-being of our people.' The three resolutions Trump signed will block California's rule phasing out gas-powered cars and end the sale of new ones by 2035. They will also kill rules that phase out the sale of medium- and heavy-duty diesel vehicles and cut tailpipe emissions from trucks. In his remarks at the White House, Trump expressed doubts about the performance and reliability of electric vehicles, though he had some notably positive comments about the company owned by Elon Musk, despite their fractured relationship. 'I like Tesla,' Trump said. In remarks that often meandered away from the subject at hand, Trump used the East Room ceremony to also muse on windmills, which he claimed 'are killing our country,' the prospect of getting electrocuted by an electric-powered boat if it sank and whether he'd risk a shark attack by jumping as the boat went down. 'I'll take electrocution every single day," the president said. When it comes to cars, Trump said he likes combustion engines but for those that prefer otherwise, 'If you want to buy electric, you can buy electric.' 'What this does is it gives us freedom,' said Bill Kent, the owner of Kent Kwik convenience stores. Kent, speaking at the White House, said that the California rules would have forced him to install 'infrastructure that frankly, is extremely expensive and doesn't give you any return.' The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents major car makers, applauded Trump's action. 'Everyone agreed these EV sales mandates were never achievable and wildly unrealistic,' John Bozzella, the group's president and CEO, said in a statement. Newsom, who is considered a likely 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, and California officials contend that what the federal government is doing is illegal and said the state plans to sue. Newsom said Trump's action was a continuation of his 'all-out assault' on California. 'And this time he's destroying our clean air and America's global competitiveness in the process,' Newsom said in a statement. 'We are suing to stop this latest illegal action by a President who is a wholly-owned subsidiary of big polluters.' The signings come as Trump has pledged to revive American auto manufacturing and boost oil and gas drilling. The move follows other steps the Trump administration has taken to roll back rules that aim to protect air and water and reduce emissions that cause climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed repealing rules that limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas. Dan Becker with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the signing of the resolutions was 'Trump's latest betrayal of democracy.' 'Signing this bill is a flagrant abuse of the law to reward Big Oil and Big Auto corporations at the expense of everyday people's health and their wallets,' Becker said in a statement. California, which has some of the nation's worst air pollution, has been able to seek waivers for decades from the EPA, allowing it to adopt stricter emissions standards than the federal government. In his first term, Trump revoked California's ability to enforce its standards, but Democratic President Joe Biden reinstated it in 2022. Trump has not yet sought to revoke it again. Republicans have long criticized those waivers and earlier this year opted to use the Congressional Review Act, a law aimed at improving congressional oversight of actions by federal agencies, to try to block the rules. That's despite a finding from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, that California's standards cannot legally be blocked using the Congressional Review Act. The Senate parliamentarian agreed with that finding. California, which makes up roughly 11% of the U.S. car market, has significant power to sway trends in the auto industry. About a dozen states signed on to adopt California's rule phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars.
TechCrunch
an hour ago
- TechCrunch
Tesla sues former Optimus engineer over alleged trade secret theft
Tesla sued a former engineer for allegedly stealing trade secrets from its humanoid robotics program, Optimus, and using them to launch a rival startup. The lawsuit, which was filed on Wednesday and originally reported on by Bloomberg, accuses Zhongjie 'Jay' Li of stealing trade secrets regarding Tesla's development of 'advanced robotic hand sensors' to launch his startup Proception, a Y Combinator-backed company building robotic hands. The complaint states that Li, who worked at Tesla from August 2022 to September 2024, downloaded confidential information about Optimus on two separate personal smartphones. The complaint also added that during the last few months of his time at Tesla, Li researched 'humanoid robotic hands' on his workplace computer in addition to making internet searches regarding venture capital and other startup funding sources. 'Less than a week after he left Tesla, Proception was incorporated,' the complaint stated. 'And within just five months, Proception publicly claimed to have 'successfully built' advanced humanoid robotic hands—-hands that bear a striking resemblance to the designs Li worked on at Tesla.' Proception's website states the company is working to 'revolutionize human-robot interaction by building the world's most advanced humanoid hands.' TechCrunch reached out to Proception and Tesla for more information. Techcrunch event Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW Tesla's Optimus robotics program has been on a bit of a rocky path since the company unveiled it was building a humanoid robot, Tesla Bot, in 2021. In 2022, the company said that the bot, alongside other new products, would be introduced in 2023. But Optimus has remained in development. In July 2024, Tesla's Elon Musk said that the company would begin selling the robot in 2026. Just a few months later at Tesla's 'We, Robot' event in October 2024, Tesla's Optimus bots in attendance were largely controlled by humans offsite.
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
California Quickly Sues Trump In Effort To Save Its EV Mandate
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 12: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as signs a series of bills related to ... More California's vehicle emissions standards during an event in the East Room of the White House on June 12, 2025 in Washington, DC. Members of Congress passed the bills using the Congressional Review Act and the effect would largely revoke the emissions standards enacted by the state of California. (Photo by) President Donald Trump followed through Thursday on his plan to kill California's electric vehicle mandate by signing a series of three resolutions passed under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The EV mandate program has been a centerpiece of Governor Gavin Newsom's agenda in recent years. 'Now we know why Elon [Musk] doesn't like me so much,' the President joked during a White House speech preceding the signing ceremony, adding, "which he does, actually. He does.' That has been an open question since Musk - whose real-time worth according to Forbes topped $400 billion this week - and Trump engaged in a very public and personal exchange of insults a week ago. Because California has thus far been the biggest consumer market for EVs in general and Tesla's cars specifically, the conventional wisdom holds that a reversal of California's aggressive targets for forcing drivers via heavy regulations to adopt electric cars and other cars it classifies as Zero Emissions Vehicles (ZEVs) would harm Tesla most. But conventional wisdom has often been wrong throughout Tesla's 20-year history, and it seems just as likely that an end to the state's ability to enforce its regulations - which I explained in detail here on Wednesday - will do far more harm to Tesla's struggling competitors instead. In that prior story, I noted that California Attorney General Rob Bonta had threatened to challenge the President's action in federal court. Right on cue, Bonta, along with Democrat attorneys general from 10 additional states, filed their suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California within minutes after the signing took place. It represents the 26th time Bonta has sued the Trump administration in the less than five months since Trump was sworn into office on January 20. The CRA resolutions target the California Air Resources Board's (CARB) Advanced Clean Cars II program, Advanced Clean Trucks rules, and heavy-duty diesel engine standards. Together, those programs invoke incentives and escalating penalties designed to force buyers to abandon traditional internal combustion cars and replace them with either EVs or other cars that qualify as zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). California's aggressive targets under the program call for 35% adoption of ZEVs by 2026, 68% by 2030, and 100% by 2035. But the state is already woefully behind the needed pace of adoption. The California government itself reports that, as of the end of 2024, just 6% of the light-duty cars on the road would qualify under the mandate. Governor Newsom said in a statement that, 'Trump's all-out assault on California continues – and this time he's destroying our clean air and America's global competitiveness in the process. We are suing to stop this latest illegal action by a President who is a wholly-owned subsidiary of big polluters.' The three resolutions signed by Trump will a) repeal a waiver under the clean air act issued by the Biden EPA in 2023 which allow California to mandate all new cars sold by 2035 be ZEVs; b) block rules requiring zero-emission sales targets for commercial trucks; and c) eliminate higher standards for heavy-duty diesel engines to reduce smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution. As reported by KCRA Channel 3 in Sacramento, Bonta admitted to reporters that his office has spent $5 million thus far in 2025 on lawsuits against the Trump administration. The state assembly recently beefed up his budget with a $25 million additional budget authorization. "While there is some expenditure, I want to highlight the results," Bonta added, though his highlights were limited to a discussion of potential savings of billions of dollars in federal funds should he ultimately win some of his many suits. The process for lawsuits like these since January has first involved states or other plaintiffs challenging Trump's policy actions to shop for a federal judge willing to issue a stay or injunction preventing the administration from enforcement. That has been followed by a quick appeal by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to the relevant appellate court asking them to lift the hold. Bonta's lawsuit contends that the use of the CRA for the purpose of rescinding an EPA waiver is an improper use of the law, a question that has never been adjudicated in the courts. With the opening acts from both sides in this EV mandate debate having been fired today, it seems highly likely that this is a case that will rise to the Supreme Court to determine the ultimate winner.
