Look, I don't want to belabor the point but a laundry list of shit to submit isn't as easy as copy-paste from one document to another unless you don't actually care about answering the question and want to get mired in back and forth of "more information needed" or "answer unsatisfactory" when the only grading criteria (NHTSA) is behind closed doors.

A lot of people here are assuming just by turning in "some answers" that it would satisfy the NHTSA. I see it as a much more involved an grinding process. They have the power, not George, so a lot of refrains about how he's just chickening out don't resonate with me.

You're missing the point entirely: knowing that somewhere down the line you will have to have answers to questions like these is an integral part of releasing a bunch of software and a device to transform a regular car into a self driving car if you are serious about the project in the first place.

If this list surprises you then you probably shouldn't be in the self driving car business.

No, you are. I'm pointing out that documentation that is satisfactory to a large bureaucratic entity is not as simple as the majority of the chorus here seems to think. I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect a company selling a public product to undergo scrutiny, sure, and I can sense that his operation is - probably wisely - thinking they're not robust enough to satisfy the hurdles.

That doesn't mean his product is shit or dangerous. It just means that the incredible amount of time and effort required to respond - and still without any guarantees that's the end of the inquiry - may be a huge time sink and a distraction from the primary objective of product development.

I've worked in many fields with entities from local, county, state, and federal RFPs/RFIs/SOQs/etc and even if you're the best in the business and have proof it's not always easy to patch it together in a format desired in a timeline that's desired and call it done.

But that goes with the territory. Just like you're not going to 'disrupt' the aviation industry or the medical world on a shoestring budget (see also: Theranos, you still need a working product even if you do all the paperwork).

And I personally feel that's a good thing. Even if Hotz' software is a-ok I'd still expect him to have it properly documented and vetted before one of his customers hits my vehicle.

The roads are not a playground.

I've done a fair bit of work on vehicles and I'm happy to say that my work passed inspection, and that I would consider it to be irresponsible to see such control over the workmanship and quality as un-necessary interference by busybodies, the primary objective of product development does not obviate the need for a reasonable overhead to prove that you did your homework.

Also, I never meant to say or imply that his product is shit or dangerous, merely that it is not up to snuff for deployment let alone sales at the present stage and that the gap between that and where it should be is too large to overcome for Hotz. In other words: it is not a product - yet.

"I've worked in many fields with entities from local, county, state, and federal RFPs/RFIs/SOQs/etc and even if you're the best in the business and have proof it's not always easy to patch it together in a format desired in a timeline that's desired and call it done."

RFP's and RFI's are not the same thing, they are often thousands of pages of trying to meet hundreds of pages of random requirements.

What you are talking about sounds mostly like dealing with the contracting side of it, which is a very different world.

Have you also dealt with the "Response to regulatory agency concerns" part of it?

Because I have, and while yeah, with say, the SEC, it can be a trip, i wouldn't throw the NHTSA into that category.

Fulfilling regulatory obligations is a known up front critical-path task. It's not like he tried, was met with resistance, and then bowed out. He overpromised and then failed to deliver due to a completely predictable hurdle.

"A lot of people here are assuming just by turning in "some answers" that it would satisfy the NHTSA. "

Satisfy is not the question. Yes, they will request more info if they are not satisfied. But he will not be fined, it will not "shut down the company".