The NHTSA Introduces New Rules for Autonomous Vehicles, But with a Surprise.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced a new "voluntary national framework for the assessment and supervision" of autonomous vehicles, marking a bureaucratic first step that could pave the way for completely autonomous cars. However, there’s a twist: the agency requires car companies with automated driving systems to provide more data. The proposed rules were announced last year as the Automated Driving System Safety, Transparency, and Evaluation Program, known as AV STEP. This program would allow the agency to approve the sale and marketing of more vehicles without traditional controls like pedals and steering wheels, without exceeding the annual cap on exemptions to safety requirements.

NHTSA promises "an exemption pathway that is specifically designed for vehicles equipped with ADS," suggesting a less complicated and faster process for the release of fully autonomous cars. In exchange, the agency is asking for more information from companies operating driverless vehicles, arguing that greater transparency is needed to build public trust in this technology. Adam Raviv, NHTSA's chief counsel, stated that AV STEP would offer a valuable national framework at a crucial time for the development of automated driving systems technology. He emphasized the importance of safe, transparent, and responsible development so that the technology can earn public trust.

The start of the rulemaking process by the Biden administration could represent a significant advancement for companies that have been working for decades on autonomous vehicle technology, in a context where the federal government has maintained a passive approach to regulating these vehicles, leaving states to create their own regulations. Legislation that could significantly increase the number of autonomous vehicles on the roads has been stalled in Congress for over seven years due to legislative disagreements on issues such as safety, liability, and the number of exemptions from vehicle safety standards.

Federal vehicle safety standards are an official list detailing what is needed for a car to be marketed, including controls like steering wheels and rearview mirrors, which driverless cars do not require, thus forcing companies to seek exemptions in advance. However, there is a limit of 2,500 exemptions per company, and so far only one, Nuro, has received an FMVSS exemption for its low-speed delivery robots. General Motors tried for years to gain access to an exemption for its Cruise vehicles but ultimately abandoned the effort.

The survival of AV STEP under a potential Trump administration is uncertain, as there are rumors that the new president seeks to eliminate a Biden-era transparency rule requiring reporting of accidents and injuries. The removal of this rule would benefit Tesla, the company that has reported the highest number of accidents, and whose CEO, Elon Musk, is a close advisor to Trump. NHTSA's focus on "enhanced transparency" under AV STEP may lead some to doubt its viability.

On the other hand, safety advocates consider the proposed rule notice to be "premature" and unnecessary. Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, noted that the proposal comes at a strange time, just after the automotive industry pressured NHTSA to eliminate a new rule requiring automatic emergency brakes in new vehicles by 2029. Chase concluded that allowing much more complex technologies to control driving functions without meeting minimum safety standards is inconsistent and could even result in deadly consequences.