The debate over self-driving cars, and how to regulate and deploy them, is one that continues to this day. However, the Trump administration is poised to reveal its revised guidelines next week, according to sources at Reuters.
The news service reports President Donald Trump’s U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is expected to arrive in Michigan at the American Center for Mobility in Ann Arbor to reveal the revised guidelines. The Obama administration first tackled self-driving car guidelines last year, though they were vague at best.
The new guidelines were approved by The White House Office of Management and Budget on August 31, according to the report, and four sources confirmed the changes will be revealed next week.
Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved legislation to fast-track the deployment of self-driving cars in the United States. Automakers would be able to exempt 25,000 cars from current safety standards in the first year, with a three-year lead up to allow 100,000 exemptions annually. It would be an immense step forward for automakers to test and develop self-driving cars.
Automakers would have to prove to the federal government that the self-driving cars are still as safe as current vehicles, however, and safety assessment reports must be submitted to regulators. The legislation does not require pre-market approval of the new technologies and states would be barred from regulating self-driving cars themselves. Registration, licensing, liability, insurance and safety inspections would still fall under state jurisdiction, though.
No Comments yet