(Credit: Tesla)
The Department of Transportation (DOT) is revising federal requirements for self-driving car companies by reducing crash reporting requirements and allowing "research prototypes" to test freely on US roads.
The initiative aims to "slash red tap" and "out-innovate China," says US Secretary Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy. Though it will likely benefit all self-driving car companies, the announcement conveniently arrives ahead of Tesla's June robotaxi launch in Austin.
The company plans to deploy 10 to 20 self-driving Model Ys that can take paid rides from passengers. It already has legal clearance to deploy them, the Texas DOT tells us, largely because there are no laws preventing accredited car companies from putting self-driving cars on the road if those vehicles meet typical safety standards.
But Tesla's futuristic Cybercabs and Robovans are not your typical street-legal vehicles as they lack steering wheels or pedals.
Some states have allowed these types of vehicles to test on public roads; in California, that includes Amazon-back Zoox and Waymo. Zoox is also on the road in Las Vegas. '
But the DOT will now allow these kinds of atypical vehicles to operate everywhere, provided companies apply for the Automated Vehicle Exemption Program (AVEP). This program was previously only open to imported self-driving cars, but is now is open to US-built vehicles, "to cultivate this nation’s tremendous potential for automotive innovation," the DOT says.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is accepting exemption applications for US-built vehicles used for "research or demonstration," including "innovative designs, such as prototype vehicles," it says.
Tesla's Cybercab is not scheduled to start production until 2026. It had a few on hand for a launch event last fall, though, so given CEO Elon Musk's penchant for dramatics, perhaps we will see a Cybercab take a lap around Austin in June. But this is all still a work in progress. The NHTSA says updates like today's "will not be the last" as it aims to promote "US leadership in advanced vehicle technologies."
As expected, meanwhile, the DOT also relaxed the crash reporting requirements for self-driving vehicles. The NHTSA will maintain "its Standing General Order on crash reporting....[but] streamline the reporting to sharpen the focus on critical safety information while removing unnecessary and duplicative requirements," the DOT says.
The NHTSA is currently investigating Tesla for its vehicles' involvement in multiple crashes, including fatalities. One self-driving Cybertruck also drove into a pole in February.