Tesla Motors Inc. says the self-driving feature suspected of being involved in a fatal crash on May 7 is experimental, yet it's been installed on all 70,000 of its cars since October 2014.
For groups that have lobbied for stronger safety rules, that's precisely what's wrong with U.S. regulators' increasingly anything-goes approach.
"Allowing automakers to do their own testing, with no specific guidelines, means consumers are going to be the guinea pigs in this experiment," said Jackie Gillan, president for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a longtime Washington consumer lobbyist who has helped shape numerous auto-technology mandates. "This is going to happen again and again and again."