Daniel Smith Email & Phone Number

Mountain View Ca (Usually Working From The Washington, Dc Area)

I provide legal advice on the range of regulatory issues faced by Waymo, particularly federal and international laws and regulations related to vehicle safety and proposals to change them. I also manage Waymo's regulatory compliance program and serve on various standards-setting groups, including the SAE task force responsible for recommending standardized definitions on matters related to automated driving systems. I participate actively in working groups of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe that are developing international safety regulations for automated vehicles. I have on occasion served as a guest lecturer on administrative law at the UC Hastings College of Law. I co-authored Waymo's October 2020 paper, Waymo's Safety Methodologies and Safety Readiness Determinations. This summary does not reflect the changes in the title of my position twice over the period shown.

I analyzed and provided advice to the Self-driving Car Project's management and staff on current and proposed federal, state, and international legislation, regulations, guidance, and interpretations related to automated and self-driving vehicles, including how to ensure compliance with those laws. I served in this role as a consultant until April 2016, when I became a Google employee.

Washington D.C.

I managed NHTSA's Office of Vehicle Safety, which included all federal vehicle safety, fuel economy, and new car rating programs. I provided executive direction to four Associate Administrators whose offices dealt with research, rulemaking, enforcement (which covers all vehicle safety investigations and recalls), and highway safety data collection and analysis. I oversaw NHTSA's development of rules and policies on subjects including vehicle automation, vehicle-to-vehicle communications, driver distraction, fuel economy, and vehicle crashworthiness and managed the agency's efforts on international harmonization of vehicle safety standards.

I managed investigations and recalls related to safety defects and regulatory noncompliance in vehicles and motor vehicle equipment. We also collected penalties for violations of CAFE standards. In 2009, I organized and led the CARS program (better known as Cash for Clunkers), which resulted in the sale of 670,000 new, more fuel efficient vehicles.

I managed an office of several hundred safety professionals, which developed and enforced rail safety standards, conducted safety inspections throughout the railroad system, and investigated accidents. I developed a Rail Safety Action Plan, which addressed certain critical areas and resulted in the reduction of crash frequency. I had been the Assistant Chief Counsel for Safety at FRA for the preceding 13 years, which made me fully familiar with the programs, policies, and personnel.

Doctor Of Law (J.D.), Law

Master Of Arts (M.A.), Political Science And Government