Model State Policy: “Delineates the federal and state roles for the regulation of highly automated vehicle technologies as part of an effort to build a consistent national framework of laws to govern self-driving vehicles”.
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The guidelines are mostly focused on what the department calls highly automated vehicles.
Moreover, states will have to designate a lead agency that will handle self-driving vehicle testing, and a committee responsible for automated safety technology.
“The quickest way to slam the brakes on innovation is for the public to lose confidence in the safety of new technologies”, Obama wrote in the op-ed. But we have to get it right.
The NHTSA proposal would not have the force of law, and it will likely be that the next administration and Congress that decide how existing regulations should change. A fatal crash in May involving a Tesla Motors Inc sedan highlighted the challenges for regulators.
Current federal rules that apply to software-driven cars, including the authority to exempt manufacturers from certain design requirements to enact new rules and recall vehicles or products that pose a substantial safety risk.
The policy comes in four sections, with the first covering Vehicle Performance and including a 15-point “Safety Assessment” for the safe design, development, testing and deployment of automated vehicles. The DMV is planning to release revised rules “in the coming weeks”, according to an official statement, which also mentioned that the agency is soliciting comments at a public workshop October 20 in Sacramento. And we’re asking them to sign a 15-point safety checklist showing not just the government, but every interested American, how they’re doing it.
“As the digital era increasingly reaches deeper into transportation, our task at the U.S. Department of Transportation is not only to keep pace, but to ensure public safety while establishing a strong foundation such that the rules of the road can be known, understood, and responded to by industry and the public”, says Secretary Anthony Foxx of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Officials spoke to reporters ahead of a news conference scheduled for Tuesday at which they plan to provide greater detail of their guidance to automakers and states, as well as new powers and resources that the NHTSA may require.
Regulators and the industry see self-driving cars as potentially much more safe than conventional vehicles.
The guidelines, which the government says are flexible and will evolve along with technological advances and in response to public comment, were released as autonomous vehicles are being tested in different states and are subject to varying rules.
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One self-driving technology expert said the overall tenor of the guidance signaled that the federal government truly has embraced autonomous driving.
