Getting Highly Automated Vehicles on the Road

A number of current vehicle safety standards are blocking the development of the more sophisticated self-driving cars and trucks.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration promulgates Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) that all vehicles sold in the U.S. must meet. Many of these standards are incompatible with highly automated vehicles (HAVs) — especially those designed to be operated exclusively by the vehicle's software control system.

For example, existing standards include requirements for brake pedals, manually controlled turn signals and many other vehicle design elements. For HAVs to move beyond developer testing and into deployment, either NHTSA will need to promulgate specific FMVSS for HAVs or Congress will need to enact another mechanism to facilitate deployment.