The US government has unveiled a new plan or “framework” to beat China in the autonomous vehicle race.
Sean P. Duffy, US Secretary of Transportation, announced the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) new Automated Vehicle (AV) Framework as part of his transportation innovation agenda.
The new framework will “unleash American ingenuity, maintain key safety standards, and prevent a harmful patchwork of state laws and regulations”, according to Duffy.
Duffy says: “This Administration understands that we’re in a race with China to out-innovate, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
“As part of DOT’s innovation agenda, our new framework will slash red tape and move us closer to a single national standard that spurs innovation and prioritizes safety.”
The NHTSA’s AV Framework has three principles:
- Prioritize the safety of ongoing AV operations on public roads
- Unleash innovation by removing unnecessary regulatory barriers
- Enable commercial deployment of AVs to enhance safety and mobility for the American public.
The first actions under this framework will help accelerate work toward modernizing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) to “blaze a path for the safe commercial deployments of AVs while improving both safety and mobility for the American people”.
Prioritize safety
To prioritize safety, NHTSA is maintaining its Standing General Order on Crash Reporting for vehicles equipped with certain advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving systems (ADS).
At the same time, the agency will streamline the reporting to sharpen the focus on critical safety information while removing unnecessary and duplicative requirements.
Enable deployment
To unleash innovation now, NHTSA is expanding the Automated Vehicle Exemption Program (AVEP) to now include domestically produced vehicles.
Previously open only to imported AVs, AVEP has promoted vehicle innovation and safety through simpler, faster exemption procedures that allow companies to operate non-compliant imported vehicles on US roads.
Until now, this program was not available for American-built vehicles. The new AV Framework levels the playing field by expanding AVEP to domestic vehicles while eliminating a needless roadblock to innovation.
NHTSA announced the change through an open letter to AV developers.
Peter Simshauser, NHTSA Chief Counsel, says: “By streamlining the SGO for Crash Reporting and expanding an existing exemption program to domestic vehicles, we are enabling AV manufacturers to develop faster and spend less time on unnecessary process, while still advancing safety.
“These are the first steps toward making America a more welcoming environment for the next generation of automotive technology.”
You might also like these articles…
- Opinion: Will autonomous cars ever gain regulatory approval to operate freely on public roads?
- How autonomous vehicles are revolutionizing traffic safety
- Autonomous vehicles: Are they really safer than human-driven vehicles?
