The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is moving ahead with plans to revise safety rules that bar fully self-driving cars from the roads without equipment like steering wheels, pedals, and mirrors, according to Reuters.
A U.S. Transportation Report says that self-driving cars have the potential to dramatically reduce traffic crashes and road deaths, but added the “public has legitimate concerns about the safety, security, and privacy of automated technology.”
Automakers must currently meet nearly 75 auto safety standards, many of which were written with the assumption that a licensed driver will be in control of the vehicle.
In January General Motors filed a petition seeking an exemption for the current rules to deploy vehicles without steering wheels and other human controls as part of a ride-sharing fleet it plans to deploy in 2019. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has not supported the petition.
Honda and General Motors join forces to build autonomous cars
Auto maker Honda is to invest US$2.75bn in General Motors and Cruise to develop a purpose-built autonomous vehicle for large-scale manufacture and deployment.
The Japanese car maker has committed the large sum of cash over 12 years to reach the shared goal with General Motors to transform mobility. Combined with recent SoftBank investments in Cruise, the total valuation of the AV company is now a combined US$14.6bn.