The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed a voluntary system to evaluate and oversee vehicles with automated driving systems Friday.
The ADS-equipped Vehicle Safety, Transparency, and Evaluation Program, aka AV STEP, establishes a voluntary review and reporting framework for participating ADS-equipped vehicles. The program would be open to companies that operate or plan to operate ADC-equipped vehicles on public roads, officials said, as well as those that require NHTSA exemptions to operate non-compliant vehicles.
“AV STEP would provide a valuable national framework at a pivotal time in the development of ADS technology. Safe, transparent, and responsible development is critical for this technology to be trusted by the public and reach its full potential. This proposal lays the foundation for those goals and supports NHTSA’s safety mission,” NHTSA Chief Counsel Adam Raviv said. “We encourage everyone to comment on our proposed program.”
Officials said the program would enable greater transparency into participating ADS operations and help the agency to oversee ADS technology. Officials said the program would provide NHTSA with insight into the technology’s development and operational data.
Additionally, the program aligns with the NHTSA’s National Roadway Safety Strategy launched in 2022, that outlines the U.S. Department of Transportation’s approach to reducing injuries and deaths on the nation’s highways, roads, and streets.
Under the program, NHTSA’s assessment of an application would benefit from the views of an independent third-party assessor. Additionally, the program would include two new exemption processes designed to optimize NHTSA’s administration of ADS exemptions, building a path for increased regulatory flexibility, officials said.