U.S. Regulators Release Autonomous Vehicle Guidelines

Federal officials have taken the first step of asserting oversight over the software that operates autonomous vehicles by officially publishing a set of guidelines governing these self-driving cars and trucks. This is the government's first attempt to regulate this technology, which Uber has already begun testing on the streets of Pittsburgh and is on the road in other areas of the United States. Many regulators expect this technology to spark a revolution, as it should increase safety by reducing the number of crashes on America's roads. 

Before the official release of these guidelines, federal regulators are asking automakers to submit their autonomous vehicle design, development, testing, and deployment plans to the Department of Transportation (DOT) before they can be offered for sale or driven on public roads. They will also be asked to provide documentation on 15 different topics, including how autonomous driving systems detect objects, how information is displayed for the driver, the testing and validation method used to develop the technology, and cybersecurity parameters.

As part of these new regulations, the DOT has also eliminated their automated- vehicle classification system. Instead, it will now utilize a five-level scale developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). ,These guidelines would apply to vehicles  with an SAE Level 3 autonomous driving system or higher, meaning they can provide full autonomy without human intervention in certain situations.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will also ask automakers for assessments of their SAE Level 2 vehicles, which combine two or more automated functions (such as adaptive cruise control or lane-keeping technology) but still require a driver to steer the vehicle.

These policies essentially took effect on September 20 and NHTSA has said that they will be asking manufacturers for their assessments in the coming months.

"Typically, we’d say a car has to meet ‘X’ standard a certain way,"  Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said. "We recognize that there’s going to be different types of innovation that come to us, and we plan to evaluate each on its own terms." 

The Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets, an industry group made up of Google, Ford, Volvo, Lyft, and Uber, said that this "operating guidance will help create the foundation necessary to inform industry and future regulatory and legislative efforts. We believe guidance from NHTSA is crucial to achieving these goals as it recognizes the challenges specific to regulating a new technology."