Uber, Google and Ford form self-driving car coalition

OREANDA-NEWS. April 27, 2016. A fleet of auto and tech companies are forming a self-driving car coalition.

Google, Uber, Ford and others are ganging together to promote the interests of self-driving cars, according to a Reuters report. The coalition's aim is to urge government action on self-driving vehicles, specifically to cut through the patchwork autonomous-driving laws that differ wildly from state to state.

"The best path for this innovation is to have one clear set of federal standards," ex-US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration official David Strickland said in a statement. "The coalition will work with policymakers to find the right solutions that will facilitate the deployment of self-driving vehicles."

Driverless cars are being developed by numerous companies. Proponents say self-driving tech has the potential to be much safer than standard human driving, though policymakers are likely to have many concerns about the implications of letting a machine take the wheel.

"1.3 million people die every year in traffic accidents -- many of them young people," an Uber spokesperson said in a statement. "Self-driving cars can help save millions of lives as well as cut congestion in our cities."