The Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) recently announced its support for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) automated vehicle guidelines.
MEMA had urged the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to consider the comments of suppliers and industry stakeholders while writing the guidelines.
“In our meetings and in other communications with (Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine) Chao and NHTSA officials, MEMA expressed support for the iterative process and guidance approach to create a national framework that recognizes that federal and state governments must work together to establish policies that accelerate deployment of these technologies while balancing public safety and building trust,” MEMA said.
The guidelines, Automated Driving Systems 2.0: A Vision for Safety, were released Tuesday. They replace guidelines published last year.
Autonomous vehicles will increase mobility, decrease commute time and prevent automobile crashes, Chao said in the report’s introduction.
The USDOT was founded in 1966. Since then, there have been 2.2 million motor vehicle fatalities, Chao said, and 94 percent of the crashes were caused by human error.
Autonomous vehicles have the potential to significantly reduce fatalities that have increased 7.2 percent in 2015 after decades of declines, Chao said.
The USDOT’s role is to establish the framework for the deployment of autonomous technologies, Chao said.