Self-driving cars are creating a “revolution in auto technology that has the potential to save thousands of lives,” according to U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on Friday. While autonomous vehicles with driver-accommodating designs similar to current versions of automobiles face few regulatory hurdles, designs that omit controls for human drivers may have greater challenges ahead, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
While autonomous vehicles may save many lives, the government has to “establish guidelines for manufacturers that clearly outline how we expect automated vehicles to function – not only safely, but more safely – on our roads,” Foxx said in the NHTSA’s announcement of two springtime meetings (in Washington, D.C., and California) to gather information on safety-related issues for automated vehicles.
As part of the announcement, the agency shared an initial assessment of current Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and the challenges for fully deploying automated vehicles in the U.S. “The report, prepared by USDOT’s Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, found that there are few existing federal regulatory hurdles to deployment of automated vehicles with traditional designs and equipment to accommodate a human driver,” according to the NHTSA’s announcement.