NHTSA recommends removing brake pedals from ADS vehicles

Removing brake pedal instruction signals, US designs safety standards around AV as default vehicle configuration America’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has begun rulemaking to eliminate the manual brake pedal requirement for vehicles designed solely for automated driving systems (ADS), the fifth update to federal motor vehicle safety standards under the Trump administration’s automated vehicle (AV) framework. The change will only apply to vehicles that can never be controlled manually, preserving stopping distance requirements. The brake pedal change follows previous proposals to revise standards governing transmission shifting, windshield systems and tire plates within the same framework. NHTSA is separately developing real-world safety performance requirements for ADS vehicles and will maintain defect enforcement and recall oversight. NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said: “We are on the cusp of the biggest technological revolution in vehicle technology since the innovation of the Model T. If we want America to lead, we need to reimagine our regulatory framework. That’s why, under Secretary Sean Duffy’s AV Framework, NHTSA is breaking down pointless barriers to innovative designs while strengthening key safety requirements that matter and holding AV developers accountable for safe performance. This approach will ultimately reduce crashes on the highway, prevent deaths and reduce traffic accidents.” The U.S. Department of Transportation also initiated the development of national AV performance standards and convened a National AV Safety Forum with automotive and technology stakeholders. Together, these measures represent a significant shift in regulatory direction in the United States toward facilitating fully automated vehicle development, which is framed as a way to maintain U.S. leadership in the industry.

Information: This content was prepared and published using AutomobileMagazine’s artificial intelligence-supported publishing system, in line with the information shared by international automotive manufacturers and reliable press sources.