Lyft is getting more serious about autonomous vehicle safety with new hire

Lyft today announced the hiring of John Maddox, founder of the American Center for Mobility and previous associate administrator of vehicle safety research at the US Department of Transportation, to lead its autonomous vehicle safety and compliance efforts. At Lyft, Maddox will be the company's first senior director of autonomous safety and compliance.

"I've dedicated my career to advancing safe mobility technologies. Joining Lyft is a continuation of that effort, and I'm excited to be part of such a talented and energized team that's leading the way in redefining the automotive industry and future of transportation," Maddox said in a statement.

In Lyft's recently-launched office of autonomous safety and compliance, Maddox will oversee the company's safety efforts in bringing self-driving cars to the masses.

Lyft first launched its self-driving car division in July 2017. Since then, Lyft has partnered with Drive.ai as well as with tier-one automotive industry supplier Magna on autonomous vehicle technology. Magna also invested $200 million in Lyft in exchange for an equity stake.

Here's how Lyft envisions self-driving cars communicating with pedestrians