FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Prescient Thriller by Legendary NYC Traffic Commissioner Reveals
Hidden Dangers of Self-Driving Cars
“Autokill” by Sam Schwartz, aka “Gridlock Sam,” will be on sale August 18
New York, NY (August 10, 2026) – Open Road Integrated Media, the book industry’s leader in applying technology to book discovery, announced today that it is publishing a thriller by New York City’s former Traffic Commissioner, the world renowned traffic expert Sam Schwartz, also known as “Gridlock Sam.” Set in the near future, Autokill is a thriller about the hidden but very real dangers posed by self-driving cars, when an investigation into a seemingly isolated fatal accident exposes a nefarious plot and sets off a desperate race to stop catastrophe.
Asked about whether the terrifying scenario depicted in Autokill could really happen, Schwartz didn’t mince words. “The driverless car industry doesn’t want you to think too hard about the dangers in what they are doing,” he said. “The risks are very real, but there is a staggering amount of money at stake for the companies involved.”
Schwartz’s prior book, which was a nonfiction title about driverless cars, was met with critical acclaim. The New Yorker called Nobody at the Wheel: Driverless Cars and the Road of the Future a “clearheaded bible for the twenty-first century.” The New York Times described it as a “valuable, humane book” by someone who “knows everything about how cars and people don’t get along.” Kirkus called it “invigorating,” and a starred review in Publishers Weekly said it was a “bold essential treatise.” Foreign Policy Magazine described it as “breathless and provocative.”
“Autokill is an adrenaline-filled ride,” said Open Road CEO David Steinberger, “and it is written by someone who understands more about the intricacies of getting from place to place than pretty much anyone on the planet.” Priorto his long career in publishing, Steinberger worked closely with Schwartz in New York City government, and describes Schwartz as an “essential mentor.”
In addition to serving as New York City’s Traffic Commissioner and as Chief Engineer of the City’s Department of Transportation, Sam Schwartz is the founder of the Sam Schwartz Transportation Research Program at Roosevelt House at Hunter College. Schwartz is recognized as having defined the phenomenon of “gridlock” as well as inventing the word itself. To write Autokill, he teamed up with co-author Cary Pepper, an award-winning playwright, novelist, and screenwriter.
Autokill by Sam Schwartz and Cary Pepper (979-8-3372-0840-4 paperback; 979-8-3372-0839-8 eBook) publishes August 18, 2026.