Argo AI assembles panel of outside experts to oversee safety of its autonomous vehicles

Photo credit should read JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images

A panel of experts will be formed to oversee the safe deployment of its technology.

The startup, which is backed by Ford and Volkswagen, will provide feedback on Argo's safety and security practices and policies, including maintaining a world-class safety culture.

Recent surveys suggest that nearly half of Americans think that self-driving cars would be a bad idea. As the Biden administration weighs new regulations for the industry, it continues to scrutinize crashes involving self-driving cars.

The council is meant to bring more transparency to the work that goes on behind the scenes.

Bryan Salesky, the CEO and founder of the company, said in a statement that safety is the foundation of the company. Automatic vehicles can have a positive impact on transportation safety and accessibility.

There will be an advisory board.

• Christopher “Todd” Doss, senior managing director of cybersecurity at Ankura and former assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Dr. Mitchell Garber, senior managing consultant at ESi and former medical officer for the National Transportation Safety Board
• David Kelly, principal and CEO at Storm King Strategies and former acting administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Annette Sandberg, principal and CEO at TransSafe Consulting and former administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
• Robert Sumwalt, executive director of the Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board

The company has been in a few crashes. Two people were sent to the hospital after an accident involving one of the company's self-driving cars. According to the National Highway Traffic Administration, there were 10 crashes involving one of its test cars.

In the last few years, the company has been testing its fourth- generation vehicles in Miami, Washington, DC, and Austin, Texas, as well as in Pittsburgh, Detroit, and cities in California. The company is in the process of launching a micro-transit and delivery service with VW in Germany. The latest company to routinely test its vehicles without human safety drivers behind the steering wheel is Argo.