Products Liability Law Daily Wrap Up, PROPOSED RULES—MOTOR VEHICLES—NHTSA requests comments on ADS development and deployment, (Oct 10, 2018)
By Colleen Kave, J.D.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking public comment on matters related to the near-term and long-term challenges of Automated Driving Systems (ADS) testing, development, and eventual deployment. The agency requests comments from interested stakeholders, including state and local authorities, companies, researchers, safety advocates, and other experts interested in, engaged in, or planning to become engaged in the design, development, testing, and deployment of motor vehicles with high and full driving automation. NHTSA also seeks comments from road users, including vehicle drivers and passengers, cyclists, and pedestrians. Comments on the ANPRM are due by November 26, 2018 (NHTSA Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 83 FR 50872, October 10, 2018).
ADS testing and development are already underway in several areas of the United States. As technology evolves and in anticipation of requests to test and further develop high and full ADS, including those in vehicles without traditional controls necessary for a human driver, NHTSA seeks input on the factors and structure that are appropriate for the agency to consider in designing a national pilot program that will enable it to facilitate, monitor, and learn from the testing and development of the emerging advanced vehicle safety technologies and to assure the safety of those activities.
Specifically, NHTSA requests comments on the following topics:
Potential factors that should be considered in designing a pilot program for the safe on-road testing and deployment of vehicles with high and full driving automation and associated equipment;
The use of existing statutory provisions and regulations to allow for the implementation of such a pilot program;
Any additional elements of regulatory relief (e.g., exceptions, exemptions, or other potential measures) that might be needed to facilitate the efforts to participate in the pilot program and conduct on-road research and testing involving these vehicles, especially those that lack controls for human drivers and thus may not comply with all existing safety standards; and
With respect to the granting of exemptions to enable companies to participate in such a program, the nature of the safety and any other analyses that the agency should perform in assessing the merits of individual exemption petitions and the types of terms and conditions it should consider attaching to exemptions to protect public safety and facilitate NHTSA’s monitoring and learning from the testing and deployment, while preserving the freedom to innovate.
By developing a robust record of the answers to these important questions, NHTSA expects to learn more about the progress of ADS and the ways in which the agency can facilitate safe and efficient ADS testing and deployment for the benefit of individual consumers and the traveling public as a whole.
RegulatoryActivity: ProposedRules MotorVehiclesNews