Despite the new rules, occupation protection remains a priority.
According to a report from Automotive News, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has eliminated the need for manual controls in fully-autonomous vehicles to comply with crash standards.
General Motors and Cruise, its autonomous driving unit, requested that a self-driving vehicle be built and deployed without the use of brake pedals or steering wheels in February.
According to current regulations, the vehicle will always have a driver’s chair, a steering column and accompanying steering wheel, or one outboard passenger seat position. The new rules for vehicles with automated driving systems (ADS) will change this.
The agency stated that manually operated driving controls were logically not necessary for vehicles intended to be operated solely by an ADS.
The new rules were first proposed in March 2020. They emphasize that occupant protection in autonomous cars is equal to the safety systems found on human-driven vehicles. To protect everyone inside the self-driving vehicle, airbags, seatbelts and other safety devices should be maintained.
In the Automotive News report, Steven Cliff, NHTSA Deputy Administrator, stated that the driver’s role has changed from one of a person to another in ADS-equipped cars. However the need to protect humans remains the same.
Rules also stated that children shouldn’t be allowed to take the seat originally intended for the driver. The safety systems that are typical do not protect children in the driver’s seat are not designed for this purpose. If a child is going to be in the driver’s chair, however, cars need not stop moving.
As long as the vehicle has manual controls, automated vehicles can still be used according to NHTSA regulations. According to the agency, manufacturers might still need to submit a petition to NHTSA in order to sell their automated vehicles.