Essays
The Journal of Law and Mobility publishes short, persuasive essays by industry leaders, academics, professionals, and the Journal editors and staff. Essays respond to current events, as well as legal and policy debates. Submissions of essays between 800 and 2,000 words are always welcome.
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When Technology is Unpredictable, Can Regulators Keep Up?
I recently wrote about a renewed federal push to regulate automated vehicles. I’ve previously highlighted a range of state regulatory schemes, including California’s relatively strict set of regulations. Meanwhile, the advent of truly automated vehicles, which seemed imminent when Waymo announced its driverless shuttle service in Phoenix,…Will You Have Right to Repair Your CAV?
The European Union recently adopted new rules to help consumers repair household appliances like refrigerators and televisions. The rules require manufacturers to provide spare parts for years after sale – the number of years depending on the device. The “Ecodesign Directive” is intended to help protect the…Rush Delivery: On The Road (Part 3 of 3)
Last week I covered the various companies who are seeking to use aerial drones to deliver goods to your door. Today, in the third part to my series on delivery (you’ll find Part 1 here, and an even earlier post on delivery, from December of 2018, here),…Rush Delivery: In The Air (Part 2 of 3)
This is the much-delayed second part in a series of posts I started earlier this year. In that first post I discussed how companies are experimenting with small delivery robots that crawl along sidewalks to deliver goods right to your door. However, the sidewalk is not the only place…Montréal’s soon-to-be-short-lived experiment with scooters?
Anyone currently living in a large city or an American college town has had some experiences with scooters – would that be the mere annoyance of having them zip around on sidewalks. Or, as a friend of mine did, attempt to use one without checking first where the throttle is……Congress Goes Back In On AV Legislation
Back in January, I wrote about the auto industry’s growing sense that a set of nationwide regulatory standards was needed to govern automated vehicles (AVs). To date, twenty-nine states and Washington, DC have enacted AV-related legislation. A handful more have adopted Executive Orders or developed some other form…AV Safety at the UN: Why Does It Matter?
I previously blogged on automated emergency braking (AEB) standardization taking place at the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (also known as WP.29), a UN working group tasked with managing a few international conventions on the topic, including the 1958 Agreement on wheeled vehicles standards. It turns…Reconsidering Safety Metrics Before Software Hits the Road
“Safety.” A single word that goes hand-in-hand (and rhymes!) with CAV. If much has been said and written about CAV safety already (including on this very blog, here and there,) two things are certain: while human drivers seem relatively safe – when considering the number of fatalities…Beyond the Coasts: 5G or Wi-Fi? V2V Standardization in Action
A European Commission plan to implement the connected car-specific 802.11p “Wi-Fi” standard for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication was scrapped early July after a committee of the Council of the European Union (which formally represents individual member states’ during the legislative process) rejected it. The standard, also known as ITS-G5 in…E-Scooters on the Rise, But Not Without Challenges
One of the most persistent issues in public transportation is the so-called “last mile” problem. The essence of the problem is that, if the distance between the nearest transit stop and a rider’s home or office is too far to comfortably walk, potential riders will be more likely to…