With all the attention about self-driving cars… federal regulations bar such vehicles from going onto the road unless they have steering wheels, pedals, and mirrors.
But the government is starting the process of changing the rules.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is moving ahead with plans to dump the requirements that vehicles have equipment that human drivers would use, but autonomous vehicles don’t need.
the filing…. Automated Vehicles 3 Point 0 …. will arrange public comment.
The report says self-driving cars can drastically reduce crashes and deaths, but the public has legitimate concerns.
General Motors was the first to seek an exemption so it could deploy a ride-sharing fleet of autonomous vehicles next year. The Waymo unit of Google plans a ride-hailing service soon, but it will still have human controls.
Legislation on self-driving car standards has stalled-out in Congress.