U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has announced that NHTSA (the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) are launching three rulemakings to modernize decades-old Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for vehicles with automated driving systems. The planned changes are said to deliver on the agency’s Automated Vehicle Framework, part of Duffy’s ‘innovation agenda’.
Duffy says, “America must lead the way in transportation innovation. If we don’t, our adversaries will fill the void. The rules of the road need to be updated to fit the realities of the 21st century. Our changes will eliminate redundant requirements and bring us closer to a single national standard that spurs innovation and prioritizes safety”.
As part of the federal Spring Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, NHTSA is proposing three rulemakings to amend the FMVSS. In each, the rulemaking would address standards for vehicles with automated driving systems (ADS) and no manual controls. Affected standards are to be № 102 (transmission shift position sequence, starter interlock, and transmission braking effect); № 103 and 104 (windshield defrosting and defogging systems and windshield wiping and washing systems), and № 108 (lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment).
NHTSA’s AV Framework is said to be intended to ‘unleash American ingenuity, maintain key safety standards, and prevent a harmful patchwork of state laws and regulations’ with three principles:
- prioritizing the safety of ongoing AV operations on public roads
- Unleashing innovation by removing unnecessary regulatory barriers
- Enabling commercial deployment of AVs to enhance safety and mobility for the American public.
In June, Secretary Duffy and NHTSA announced plans to streamline the Part 555 exemption process as part of the AV Framework. The exemption will continue to allow manufacturers to sell up to 2,500 motor vehicles per year that do not fully comply with FMVSS.
DVN remark: this will permit automatic activation of turn indicators in AD mode (as an example), that is not clearly allowed today in FMVSS 108. That same activation is on agenda of GRE with modification of UN R48.
