In the United States, human controls such as steering wheels and pedals may no longer be needed

The National Road Safety Administration (NHTSA) is planning to revise the safety rules prohibiting fully autonomous cars from using roads, equipment such as the steering wheel, pedals and mirrors, according to a document consulted by Reuters.

The automotive safety agency, known as NHTSA, "intends to re-examine the need and soundness of its current safety standards" applied to automated vehicles, said the US Department of Transportation. Transport in an 80-page update of its principles, "Automated Vehicles 3.0". made public Thursday.

The ministry revealed that NHTSA would like the public to comment on "proposed changes to specific safety standards to take into account automated vehicle technologies and the possibility of defining exceptions to certain standards" in a future regulation. are relevant only when human drivers are present "for autonomous vehicles.

US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who will release the report at an event to be held Thursday at the ministry's headquarters, said that autonomous cars could potentially significantly reduce road accidents and road deaths. , but that the public has security, security and privacy of automated technology. "

Automakers are currently required to meet nearly 75 car safety standards, many of which have been drafted in the event that a licensed driver will control the vehicle.

In January, General Motors filed a petition seeking a derogation from the current rules on deploying vehicles without a steering wheel or other means of human control as part of a carpool fleet that it planned to deploy in November. 2019.

NHTSA has not declared GM's complete petition a necessary step before it can decide on the merits. NHTSA has announced its intention to propose to modernize the procedures to be followed when considering exemption applications.

The Waymo Unit of the Alphabet plans to launch a stand-alone service to call the public generally without a human driver driving in Arizona later this year. But unlike GM, Waymo's vehicles will have human controls for the moment.

In March, an autonomous Uber Technologies vehicle hit and killed a pedestrian, while the waiting security driver was watching a video, police said. Uber suspended testing as a result of this incident and some security advocates said the accident had shown that the system was not safe enough to be tested on public roads.

Safety standards

NHTSA's regulation has been strengthened while congressional legislation aimed at speeding up autonomous cars, which was passed by the US House in 2017, is stalled and has only an outside chance of being sold. to be approved this year, said congressional advisers.

The report states that "NHTSA's current statutory authority to establish motor vehicle safety standards is flexible enough to allow for the design and performance of" various automated vehicles.

Automakers, however, warned that NHTSA may take too long to rewrite the rules to allow the widespread adoption of autonomous cars without human control.

The agency said it "could also consider a more fundamental overhaul of its approach to safety standards" for automated vehicles, adding that future requirements "will need to be more flexible and more responsive, neutral. vis-à-vis technology and performance-oriented ".

NHTSA has stated that it may require manufacturers to "use test methods, such as sophisticated obstacle-based test regimes," or to adopt Computer simulation requirements, US legislation "not requiring that NHTSA's safety standards be based on physical tests and measurements, that they be objective, reproducible and transparent".

The ministry also said it "no longer recognizes the designations of ten automated vehicle test sites," announced shortly before the departure of President Barack Obama in January 2017.

The sites, including a Michigan center visited by President Donald Trump last year, have been appointed by Congress to be eligible for $ 60 million grants "to fund demonstration projects that test the feasibility and the safety of autonomous vehicles.

According to the report, "Given the rapid growth of automated vehicle testing activities in many places, the US DOT does not need to focus on particular locations."

The Transportation Department also announced the launch of a study on the impacts of automated vehicles on the workforce with the departments of Labor, Commerce and Health and Social Services.

The report also said that the Trump administration would not call for an end to human conduct. The ministry "embraces the freedom of the road, which includes freedom for Americans to drive their own vehicles … We will protect the ability of consumers to make the mobility choices that best meet their needs."