The Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets, a Washington, DC-based lobbying group that represents a number of auto industry giants, has changed its name to the “Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association” (AVIA), a significant departure from the phrase “self-driving.”
While the association did not name Tesla specifically in its statement, the action is likely in response to Elon Musk’s business’s attempts to promote its “Full Self-Driving” feature, a highly contentious driver assistance function that has placed the company in hot water with legislators on many occasions.
In other words, this phrase has acquired considerable baggage and contributed to the eroding of customer trust — at least in the perspective of lobbying organizations.
“They recently urged all stakeholders to make a clear distinction between autonomous vehicles and driver assistance systems in order to increase customer confidence and comprehension,” the organization said in a statement. The association is presenting autonomous cars as mobile living rooms that would be devoid of steering wheels.
Additionally, the revelation comes on the heels of Waymo, one of the most vocal proponents of this technology, announcing last year that it will cease using the phrase “self-driving vehicle,” in favor of “more intentional terminology.”
This rebranding will aid in distinguishing completely autonomous technology from driver-assist technologies (sometimes erroneously referred to as ‘self-driving’ technologies) that need supervision by licensed human drivers to operate safely.
This is a PR Newswire Feed; edited by Clean-Future Team