A New Era of Bureaucratic Oversight
In a significant development, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced a new "voluntary national framework for the evaluation and oversight" of autonomous vehicles. This proposal marks a crucial first step towards regulating the burgeoning industry, potentially paving the way for fully driverless cars to hit the market.
However, there’s a twist: NHTSA wants self-driving car companies to cough up more data in exchange for streamlined regulatory processes. The agency is seeking greater transparency to foster public trust in the technology. But will this proposal be enough to quell concerns about safety and liability?
A Brief History of Autonomous Vehicle Regulation
The proposed rules, known as the ADS-Equipped Vehicle Safety, Transparency, and Evaluation Program (AV STEP), were first announced last year. This program would allow NHTSA to authorize the sale and commercialization of more vehicles without traditional controls, like pedals and steering wheels, without hitting the annual cap on exemptions to safety requirements.
NHTSA is promising an exemption pathway tailored for ADS-equipped vehicles, suggesting a less onerous and time-consuming process for releasing fully driverless vehicles. But in exchange, the agency is requesting more data from companies operating driverless cars.
The Need for Transparency
Adam Raviv, NHTSA’s Chief Counsel, emphasized the importance of transparency in a press release: "AV STEP would provide a valuable national framework at a pivotal time in the development of [automated driving system] technology. Safe, transparent, and responsible development is critical for this technology to be trusted by the public and reach its full potential."
A Gift from the Biden Administration
By kick-starting the rulemaking process, the Biden administration has given a significant boost to companies laboring on autonomous vehicle technology without a national regulatory framework to guide them. The federal government’s hands-off approach has left states to develop their own rulebooks for safe deployment.
Legislation that would dramatically increase the number of AVs on the road has been stalled in Congress for over seven years, with lawmakers at odds over issues like safety, liability, and exemptions from federal motor vehicle safety standards.
The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
The government’s official checklist for everything a car needs before it can be sold to customers includes steering wheels, pedals, and sideview mirrors. Driverless cars typically don’t need these controls, forcing companies to request exemptions to safety rules from the federal government before putting their vehicles on the road.
Safety regulators keep a tight grip on these exemptions, with a cap of 2,500 exemptions per company allowed to be requested. To date, only one company, Nuro, has received an FMVSS exemption for its low-speed delivery robots that aren’t large enough for human passengers.
General Motors’ Challenge
General Motors tried for two years to get an exemption for its driverless Cruise vehicles before eventually giving up. Earlier this month, GM announced it would stop funding Cruise. The incoming president’s reported plan to quash a Biden-era transparency rule could spell trouble for AV STEP.
The Trump Administration’s Stance on Transparency
The fact that NHTSA is highlighting the "enhanced transparency" under AV STEP could lead some to conclude that this rule is dead on arrival. After all, Trump is currently trying to kill the only transparency rule currently on the books for self-driving cars.
However, Musk is also lobbying Trump to ease restrictions on fully autonomous vehicles in advance of Tesla’s plans to produce its own robotaxi in 2026. So anything’s possible.
Safety Advocates’ Concerns
Safety advocates are calling the notice of proposed rulemaking "premature" and unnecessary. In a statement, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety President Cathy Chase notes that the proposal is oddly timed, coming after the auto industry said it was lobbying NHTSA to scrap a new rule requiring automatic emergency braking in new vehicles by 2029.
"With the auto industry vociferously stating it is not feasible to comply with parts of the AEB rule with widely used braking technologies in five years, allowing far more complex technology to control more driving functionalities without meeting minimum safety standards is incongruous at best and potentially deadly at worst," Chase said.
What’s Next?
As NHTSA embarks on this ambitious regulatory endeavor, one thing is clear: the road ahead will be paved with challenges and controversy. With safety advocates voicing concerns about transparency and liability, it remains to be seen whether AV STEP will survive into the next administration.
Will the proposed rules strike a balance between innovation and safety? Only time will tell.
