The feds are paving the way for automated taxis without steering wheels and pedals
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Friday proposed a The new national framework This could make it easier for companies to deploy self-driving vehicles on a large scale without traditional manual driving controls — such as steering wheels, pedals and side mirrors.
The guidelines also require AV companies to share more safety data with the agency.
The autonomous vehicle industry has been anticipating NHTSA’s proposal since last year, when the agency first proposed a safety, transparency and evaluation program for ADS-equipped vehicles, known as AV STEP. The program’s goal was, among other things, to allow the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to greenlight the sale and marketing of self-driving vehicles that do not meet federal safety standards due to a lack of manual controls.
Today, self-driving vehicles with all manual parts are allowed to operate on public roads without oversight from NHTSA. But any self-driving vehicle that cannot be commandeered by a human driver must receive an exemption from the agency.
Unless of course they’re Zoox. The Amazon-owned company asserted that it does not need an exemption from the NHTSA because it “self-certifies” the safety of its vehicles — a claim that the agency Actively investigate.
Zoox, which recently started rolling out a toaster-like device Vehicles in San Franciscoisn’t the only AV company looking to lose the steering wheel and pedals. cruise, Before it goes down, Planned for publication pedigreeda purpose-built robot taxi, has been widely used. Electric and autonomous trucking company Einride intends to market a vehicle AV charging case Which doesn’t even have a driver’s cab, let alone pedals. and Tesla unveiled its prototype of a two-door automated taxi in October, and plans to begin production in 2025 or 2026, according to CEO Elon Musk.
NHTSA’s proposed program is a voluntary program that would give participants “the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to transparency regarding their vehicles and operations” by submitting regular safety reports.
The AV STEP program consists of two tiers – one for vehicles built with human controls, with backup designs that can be managed by humans; Another is for vehicles built without such controls. As more of the latter begin to flood public streets, NHTSA hopes the program and data reporting will make the agency better equipped to “address emerging risks associated with their deployment.”
To qualify for the program, companies will need to submit data related to the safety of the “design, development and operation” of their autonomous vehicles. Once accepted, participants will be required to submit periodic and incident reports, such as crash reports, to NHTSA — all of which the agency will be free to publish in the name of transparency.
NHTSA’s call for more data comes as President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has indicated its desire Repeal Biden-era requirements for reporting car accidents Which Musk and Tesla oppose. Tesla has the largest market share of vehicles with automated driving features in the United States, and as such, the majority of total reported accidents come from Tesla vehicles. Tesla has been the target of several National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigations, some of which stemmed from about 1,500 crashes that the automaker reported to federal safety regulators.
It’s too early to know whether crash reporting for autonomous vehicles will be eliminated under Trump’s regime, but NHTSA says it wants to collect such data so it can keep up with the fast-moving industry in anticipation of one day setting minimum standards for autonomous vehicle performance.
Some industry advocates say the proposed framework is premature. The proposal was released shortly after NHTSA released a set of studies touting the impact of federal safety standards in saving more than 860,000 lives from 1968 to 2019, noted Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
“Expanding the deployment of ADS systems — and without the safety protections provided by FMVSS systems — at this time appears premature and lacks independent research and data to support the action,” Chase said in a report. statement.
