Lack of expertise in NHTSA impacts Toyota investigation
Published February 27, 2010 | 
According to thecarconnection.com, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has no software engineers or electrical engineers on staff. They are actually citing a Washington Post article where during the investigation, NHTSA admitted
NHTSA officials told investigators that the agency doesn’t employ any electrical engineers or software engineers.
This is unforgivable. How can the NHTSA expect to do their job if they don’t have anyone that understands the technology found on every new car, and has been in cars for well over a decade. I think the post said it best:
The agency has an annual budget of more than $800 million, and it employs 635 thousands of people. That not a single one of them is an EE or software engineer borders on the criminally insane.
According to the post, it was later clarified that NHTSA actually has 2 EE’s on staff (no mention on if they have any software engineers).
This is insane. Cars are becoming the poster child for the fusion of hardware, software, and electronics. Software and electronics are becoming more and more important. I do hope that the NHTSA will hire the right folks that can do the job.
