The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced proposed changes to lighting equipment requirements for vehicles driven by automated driving systems (ADS).
The proposal would standardize performance criteria for identifying marker lamps on ADS-equipped vehicles, as well as modernize the lighting equipment requirements, officials said. Agency officials said the updates will build on the agency’s effort to safely unleash American innovation and rethink whether equipment requirement should apply for vehicles designed to never be driven by a human being.
“As automotive technology continues to evolve, our safety standards must keep pace with innovation in ways that do not compromise public safety,” NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said. “These proposed updates address unnecessary regulatory burdens for vehicles built without traditional manual controls while establishing clear performance standards for automated vehicle marker lamps. By aligning our regulations with today’s technology, we are paving the way for safe innovation and setting clear rules of the road for automated vehicles.”
The proposed updates to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards include modernizing manual turn signal, hazard warning and beam-switching control requirements; standardizing ADS marker lamps to ensure consistent signaling to law enforcement and other road users when a vehicle is being operated by ADS; modernizing the 12.8-volt test requirement for integral beam headlamps, that would allow manufacturers to certify performance at voltages tailored to long-lasting LED and advanced lighting systems; and removing outdated requirements dictating the vertical order of lower and upper headlamp beams.
A 30-day public comment period will follow the publication notice in the Federal Register.