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As autonomous and connectivity technologies reshape how automakers think about personal mobility, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has ensured that regulators follow suit.
Federal guidelines for the safe deployment of autonomous vehicles, issued in September, create safety checks while stopping short of imposing firm rules that Foxx and the industry agree could stifle innovation.
The policy brings some semblance of order to autonomous car development. It also strikes a balance that, at least for now, will let the feds keep tabs on the emerging sector while staying out of the industry's way. These technologies could lead to a revolution in auto safety and slash the roughly 94 percent of U.S. traffic deaths caused by driver error.
Foxx, 45, also has empowered National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief Mark Rosekind to shift the agency into a more proactive stance after a string of major defect crises.
Under Foxx, NHTSA has used its legal tools creatively to issue harsh punishments for safety violations that ensure long-term changes. It also brokered a voluntary pact with nearly all automakers to make automatic emergency braking standard on new cars by 2022.
Foxx likely will leave after President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. But in just three years, he has positioned the Transportation Department to support and police the future of the industry.