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US safety agency seeks input on autonomous vehicle rules
The Center for Auto Safety is the nation’s premier independent, member driven, non-profit consumer advocacy organization dedicated to improving vehicle safety, quality, and fuel economy on behalf of all drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.
“The optimistic way of looking at it is the DOT (Department of Transportation) finally decided that a zero oversight of the self-driving car industry was a bad idea,”
DETROIT — The U.S. government’s road safety agency is asking for public comment on how it should regulate safe deployment of self-driving vehicles.
Seeking public comment is an early step in drawing up possible regulations, but that process takes years and could be changed by the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden.
About 60 companies are already testing autonomous vehicles, some on public roadways without human backup drivers. One, Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo, is running a limited fully autonomous ride-hailing service in the Phoenix area.
So far the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has taken a voluntary approach to autonomous vehicles without standards and regulations. That has brought criticism from the National Transportation Safety Board and safety advocates for being too hands-off.
NHTSA said Thursday that it wants public input on a proposed regulation of autonomous vehicle sensors, how the vehicles detect other road users and infrastructure, how they plan routes and how they carry out that plan.
“This rulemaking will help address legitimate public concerns about safety, security and privacy without hampering innovation in the development of automated driving systems,” said Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, whose department includes NHTSA.
The agency says in documents that a new generation of motor vehicle safety standards should give manufacturers of vehicles, sensors, software and other autonomous vehicle technology “sufficient flexibility to change and improve without the need for frequent modifications to the regulations.”
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