Washington State Executive Order

1. An executive order is NOT a law. The next governor can cancel it at whim. The legislature, by passing a law, can change it.

2. An executive order, as we saw at the federal level with both President Obama and President Bush before him - with the authority to use broad administrative powers - can be a force for funding and direction. But see #3.

3. Every state is different. The governance structure - who has the power and authority - varies greatly from state to state, from legislature to legislature. In some states, the governor is the power center; in others it is three top legislators who stay forever and do not need to listen to anyone else.

Washington State does more than grow apples and technology
... it wants autonomous vehicles

I claim total ignorance of the power structure of Washington State politics, but with so much technology business, the Seattle area cannot be happy that Silicon Valley in California is synonymous with the current tech boom. The governor is lagging behind, but paying attention. Who knows what he tried to get going before deciding on an AV executive order.
[Photo from HUD.]

Lots of Whereas points before the meat (or vegan meat)

Likely following state tradition that an executive order must establish that a bona fide problem exists before one should be issued, the Washington State executive order begins with a list of "Whereas ... " there's a problem and opportunities here.

[Photo by from AJAD MOHAMAD (OWN WORK) [CC BY-SA 4.0] from livability.com.]

Problems identified include:

• Lots of auto "accidents" - not PC; the correct term is crashes, 
• The state wants to be in the technological lead - it's already behind in that race for this industry.

Low and behold, the executive order has found the solutions of (a) safety and (b) economic development in autonomous vehicles.

The nitty gritty

So how is the magical solution of autonomous vehicles going to happen in the land of apples and Microsoft? A study group - ta da! Actually, it's being called a "work group."

Not kidding. Obvious that no one on the governor's team is from the world of marketing.

But wait ...

The one promising point in the executive order is permission for pilot programs that allow for autonomous vehicles to be tested on Washington States roads. The vehicles must have on board equipment that can be operated by a human and an actual human physically present UNLESS (among other predictable details):

• The vehicle is "capable of bringing the vehicle to a safe condition in the event of a system failure," 
• Developers of the vehicles self-certify to DOL (Department of Licensing) that they are compliant with the above requirements.

No requirement of a data recorder, no requirement of coordination with local jurisdictions, and no extraneous requirements.

I make fun, but this executive order is pretty middle of the road in terms of state policies and laws.

[Photo: US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx (R) and Google Chairman Eric Schmidt (L) ride in a Google self-driving car at the Google headquarters on February 2, 2015 (Photo: Getty) via inews Essential Daily Briefing]

Crushing news for the cuteness factor

Say it ain't so. Did Waymo not learn the Toyota Prius v. Honda whatever lesson that conspicuous upgrades or do-gooding or technology quickly becomes a desired wow factor? Nope. Waymo is ditching the cute, pod-like driverless vehicles that Google developed and tested. Ah, I remember fondly the artistic designs put on the vehicles and the sweet factor.

Sorry, there's no charm in the look of an average car. A little sad here that the fireflies, as Google named the two-seater podcars, are disappearing. According to the inews Essential Daily Briefing:

Firefly will make a trip to the Arizona Science Centre in Arizona during August, before making its final journey back to Texas in October to commemorate the second anniversary of the first autonomous drive. They are also available to view in the Computer History Museum in California, and in London’s Design Museum.

Better yet - not - Waymo is counting on a minivan, which is inaccessible for people with disabilities and has zero charm, to catapult it to greatness with families who lug gear.