As more manufacturers advance self-driving car technology – and in the wake of the first reported fatality involving the crash of an automobile in autonomous mode – the U.S. Department of Transportation and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have issued a new federal guidance for the development of self-driving vehicles.
According to the agency, the new policy will lay out a path for “the safe testing and deployment of new auto technologies that have enormous potential for improving safety and mobility for Americans on the road.”
The policy establishes highly proactive standards for auto manufacturers in advance of actually releasing an autonomous vehicle. Automakers will have to assess system designs, development, testing, and deployment issues prior to offering the system or vehicle for sale or putting it into service on public roads.
The new guidance on vehicle performance guidance uses a 15-point Safety Assessment to set expectations for manufacturers developing and deploying automated vehicle technologies. An accompanying model state policy outlines the federal and state roles for the regulation of highly automated vehicle technologies as a way to build a “consistent national framework of laws to govern self-driving vehicles.”
The policy also outlines options for the further use of current federal laws to expedite the safe introduction of highly automated vehicles into the marketplace, and describes new tools and authorities the federal government may need as the technology evolves and is deployed more widely
“Automated vehicles have the potential to save thousands of lives, driving the single biggest leap in road safety that our country has ever taken,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “This policy is an unprecedented step by the federal government to harness the benefits of transformative technology by providing a framework for how to do it safely.”
An industry association, the Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets, issued a statement in support of the new policy. Ford, Google, Lyft, Uber and Volvo launched the Coalition earlier this year.
“This is an important step forward in establishing the basis of a national framework for the deployment of self-driving vehicles,” said David Strickland, spokesperson and general counsel for the Coalition, and a former NHTSA administrator. “We support guidance that provides for the standardization of self-driving policies across all 50 states, incentivizes innovation, supports rapid testing and deployment in the real world.”
Another industry group, the Intelligent Car Coalition (ICC), also offered support. “We know there are still many discussions ahead on issues such as driver behavior, spectrum, privacy and data use, and regulatory harmonization,” the organization said in a statement. “The ICC and our members look forward to continuing to work with regulators to bring the game-changing societal benefits of automated vehicles to our roads.”
Automakers generally applauded the new guidance, with the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers stating that federal guidance (instead of new regulations) would help speed deployment of the technology.
Some industry stakeholders are concerned, however, that the guidance may make it more difficult to get new technologies to market. The Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) is currently studying the documents in preparation for providing comments to the draft guidance.
“We are committed to reducing or eliminating fatalities on our roads, and autonomous vehicles will be critical to reach that goal,” the organization said in a statement to Aftermarket Business World magazine. “We are encouraged by the inclusion of the state policy recommendations in NHTSA’s recently released guidelines, but we do have concerns that the guidelines as currently drafted would risk inhibiting life-saving innovations. Right now, MEMA is working with its members to draft a comment letter to NHTSA that will express our concerns in detail.”
Guidance addresses safety concerns
The new DOT guidance comes as automakers continue to grapple with potential safety concerns related to self-driving vehicles. Over the summer, a driver was killed in Florida while operating his Tesla in “AutoPilot” mode (which despite its name is not fully autonomous). Sensors failed to detect a tractor-trailer on the highway because of bright sunlight. Google’s self-driving cars have been involved in a number of collisions, but the majority of those were the fault of other drivers.
The safety benefits may outweigh the risks, however. Self-driving vehicles could potentially help reduce traffic fatalities significantly because the technology in the cars could respond faster to conditions than a human driver. The DOT appears to be trying to get ahead of the technology and address the potential for vehicle owners to improperly use these systems.
The policy focuses on highly automated vehicles (those in which the vehicle can take full control of driving in some circumstances). Parts of the policy also apply to driver assistance systems that are already deployed on some new vehicles.
Typically, the DOT and NHTSA are reactive in their regulation and enforcement of safety standards – recalls are issued after a defect is discovered in a vehicle that is already on the road. The new policy requires compliance in advance of vehicle deployment.
The policy also allows the interpretation of current NHTSA rules to allow for more flexibility in design, as well as a mechanism for providing limited exemptions to allow for testing of “nontraditional vehicle designs” in a more timely manner. It also identifies new regulatory tools that state and federal lawmakers could use to improve safety.
NHTSA also released a final enforcement guidance bulletin to clarify how its recall authority will apply to automated vehicle systems.
According to the document: “It emphasizes that semi-autonomous driving systems that fail to adequately account for the possibility that a distracted or inattentive driver-occupant might fail to retake control of the vehicle in a safety-critical situation may be defined as an unreasonable risk to safety and subject to recall.”
While the guidance and pre-deployment recall authority are unusual, NHTSA continues to emphasize that the agency is optimistic about the future of autonomous vehicles.
“Ninety-four percent of crashes on U.S. roadways are caused by a human choice or error,” said NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind. “We are moving forward on the safe deployment of automated technologies because of the enormous promise they hold to address the overwhelming majority of crashes and save lives.”
The full guidance document can be found at http://www.transportation.gov/AV.
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