Feds: Companies must report crashes involving self-driving technology
The Center for Auto Safety is the nation’s premier independent, member driven, non-profit consumer advocacy organization dedicated to improving vehicle safety, quality, and fuel economy on behalf of all drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.
Jason Levine, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, an advocacy group, said the crash reporting is a welcome first step by NHTSA. The center has been asking the agency to oversee automated vehicles for several years.
“Collecting crash data, and hopefully data from crashes which were avoided, can help serve a variety of purposes from enforcing current laws, to ensuring the safety of consumers, as well as paving the way for reasonable regulations to encourage the deployment of safe advanced vehicle technology,” Levine said in an email.
By Riley Beggin
The Detroit News
June 29, 2021
Washington — Federal regulators will now require companies to report crashes involving self-driving and driver-assist systems, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Tuesday.
The new policy comes as the agency has opened 30 investigations into Tesla crashes resulting in 10 deaths, and after competitors and other federal agencies have called for increased accountability and oversight for the emerging technology.
“Advanced driver assistance systems can help promote safety by helping drivers avoid crashes and by reducing the severity of crashes,” said Steven Cliff, NHTA’s acting administrator. “However, these technologies can be potentially dangerous if drivers don’t understand how to use them, or worse, choose to misuse or abuse them.”