The NHTSA wants to ensure regulations don’t stifle self-driving cars

As we grow ever closer to a world where autonomous vehicles are driving on the same public roads as human-driven vehicles, the federal government is preparing to review its vehicle safety regulations to see whether or not they’ll conflict with the self-driving vehicle systems that’re making their way into the automotive market. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration head Mark Rosekind, the NHTSA wants to ensure that current regulations won’t stifle technological innovation. 

The head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Monday the agency is reviewing federal vehicle safety rules to determine if they could conflict with self-driving vehicle systems that Google and others want to put on the road. The agency is looking at a list of rules that could affect the rollout of features such as Tesla Motors’ “autopilot” hands-free driving system or General Motors’ proposed “super cruise” system, NHTSA administrator Mark Rosekind told reporters. “We are trying to figure out if innovation will run up against regulations,” he said. Rosekind said it is not clear where the lines are between federal and state regulation of autonomous driving technology. But he said the NHTSA inevitably will have a role in overseeing the safety of self-driving vehicles and what standards should be applied to the technology. As an example, Rosekind noted the lack of standardization for the signals and alerts drivers get from robotic systems that are watching for hazards around a car or controlling its direction.