Twenty-seven transportation labor groups recently sent a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Acting Administrator Ann Carlson urging an investigation of automated driving system (ADS)-equipped vehicles.
The groups cited numerous examples of ADS-equipped vehicles that have malfunctioned or caused safety hazards.
“ADS-equipped vehicle operations are unsafe and untenable in their current form,” the letter said. “This industry is in dire need of federal regulation and leadership to restore a modicum of safety and establish a realistic path for these vehicles to operate without threatening other road users – including those represented by these unions.”
The groups urged the agencies to immediately investigate operators of for-hire driverless vehicles, update the Automated Vehicle Policy, and update NHTSA’s standing general order on crash reporting to include incidents involving ADS and Level 2 ADAS that are not strictly limited to crashes.
The incidents, the letter said, should include driving into construction worksites, near collisions, pulling into bicycle lanes or pedestrian crossings, violations of police and firefighter cordons, and other safety issues.
The group urges the standing order also be updated to require data on any incident where an automated vehicle experienced a significant deviation from expected performance such as malfunctions.