What We’re Reading

• NHTSA Announces New Autonomous Driving Regulations (US News, July 13, 2023)

  During a keynote address at this year’s Automated Road Transportation Symposium (ARTS23), NHTSA’s acting administrator, Ann Carlson, told attendees that the agency anticipates publishing a notice of proposed rule-making for automated driving systems in the fall.

  “The new rules would fall under the proposed ADS-Equipped Vehicle Safety, Transparency and Evaluation Program, and is known as the AV STEP. The AV STEP would eliminate caps on the maximum allowable number of vehicles using various forms of advanced driving systems up to and including full self-driving where the control of a human being in the driver’s seat is unnecessary.”

  In exchange for this long-sought-after regulatory move, however, NHTSA would require automakers that are testing advanced technologies to share their vehicle data. According to Carlson, “AV STEP is a way to open up a wealth of data and allow for deployment of noncompliant vehicles ... [w]here we can benefit from, learn from and enhance our research into automated-vehicle safety and performance.” If adopted, AV STEP is expected to significantly increase the number of driverless vehicles permitted to operate on U.S. roads, which currently is capped at 2500.

  The complete text of Carlson’s keynote address can be found here, and additional coverage of her remarks is available from Automotive News (paywall) and CBT News. Related coverage on how AV STEP may impact GM’s petition to build cars without a steering wheel or brake pedals can be found at Jalopnik.

• Lawmakers Raise Concerns About Chinese Testing Autonomous Tech in U.S. (The Detroit Bureau, July 17, 2023)

  Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are questioning whether Chinese companies should be permitted to test self-driving vehicles on U.S. roads, citing national security concerns. In a letter to Transportation Secretary Buttigieg and Commerce Secretary Raimondo, the lawmakers wrote that “[t]he massive amount of data being collected by these cars could give the CCP (the Chinese Communist Party) an unprecedented vantage point into the United States. ... Beijing has already pioneered the use of big-data analytics to identify dissidents at home, and we are concerned that those tactics could be deployed here and abroad.”

  The lawmakers—including Representatives from Michigan, Ohio, and Texas—also cautioned that the U.S. may be “ceding a serious strategic advantage by not barring Chinese companies from operating in the U.S.,” since China has barred U.S. companies from testing autonomous technology on Chinese roads and has even limited where Tesla vehicles can drive.

  At least seven Chinese companies currently test AVs on U.S. roads, although none offer vehicles for sale in the U.S.

• US opens special probe into fatal Tesla crash (Reuters, July 18, 2023)

  NHTSA has opened a special investigation into a July crash in which a Tesla Model 3, operating in Autopilot, collided head-on with a Subaru Impreza, causing fatalities in both vehicles. This is the third special investigation NHTSA has initiated this year involving Tesla vehicles believed to be operating using ADAS features.

  According to this article, “NHTSA typically opens more than 100 ‘special’ crash investigations annually into emerging technologies and other potential auto safety issues that have, for instance, previously helped to develop safety rules on air bags.”