by The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has just launched a new framework to reduce bureaucracy and accelerate innovation.
This will affect the process of bringing autonomous vehicles to market and the technologies that enable it.
This will almost certainly have a major impact on Tesla’s plans for Level 5 technology later this year.
The path to fully autonomous vehicles has just gotten a little shorter, at least on paper. After months of deliberation and industry pressure, NHTSA has officially revised several key policies related to automated driving technology. The new plan changes the way accident reports are filed, reduces regulatory oversight, and outlines a path for expanded innovation. This is the optimistic version. And if anyone has a chance to take advantage of this, they will likely be first in line.
The new Automated Vehicles (AV) Framework has three main goals. First, safety priority; second, fostering innovation; and finally, commercialization potential. These are the official principles. However, how it achieves each goal will be the most interesting part.
“This Administration understands that we are in a race with China over innovation, and the stakes could not be higher,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Shawn R. Duffey. “As part of the Department of Transportation’s innovation initiative, our new framework will cut bureaucratic nonsense and bring us closer to a single national standard that promotes innovation and safety priorities.”
Reduced Transparency on Accidents
Months ago, some thought the requirement would be completely abolished. That won’t happen, but the accident reporting rules are changing. Previously, accidents involving vehicles with Level 2 driving technology and above had to be reported. Now, Level 2 vehicles, such as those from Tesla, GM, and Stellantis, are completely excluded from the reporting system.
In fact, even Level 3 vehicles sold by Mercedes are also excluded. Instead, only accidents involving Level 4 driving technology and above will be reported.
Ultimately, this means less transparency regarding accident data for Level 2 and Level 3 driving systems. It will speed up the government’s ability to track accidents involving Level 4 and above systems, but it will leave nearly everyone except automakers themselves blind to the safety of Level 2 and Level 3 systems. While this is a significant change, it is not the only notable one.
Expanding AV Exemptions for U.S.-Made Vehicles
The government will also expand the AV Exemption Program to include vehicles manufactured in domestic states. Previously, the program effectively allowed vehicles not federally approved for U.S. roads to be on national territory and tested on public roads. Now, the government will allow U.S.-made vehicles to also apply for this program and test on public roads, even if the specified vehicles do not meet certain standards.
Finally, the new principles allow for more commercialization opportunities, although the government has not yet clarified what exactly this will mean. We expect it to lift restrictions on the number of commercial AVs allowed per manufacturer. Under the previous standard, Tesla, in all likelihood, would have had to obtain a special exemption to deploy more than 2,500 AVs nationwide. Now, it seems the path is clear for significantly more robotaxis on the roads.
Whether this vision leads to safer roads or just more unresolved questions about who is behind the wheel (or algorithm) remains to be seen.
