The development of autonomous driving has ushered in a major update.
On Thursday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released the final version of the Driverless Car Passenger Protection Regulations, which make it clear that fully autonomous vehicles no longer need to be equipped with manual controls such as traditional steering wheels, brakes or accelerator pedals to meet occupant safety protection standards in collisions.
This means that car companies can legally and compliantly produce driverless vehicles without steering wheels and control pedals and put them into commercial use, without being hindered by old regulations.
Automakers and tech companies face significant hurdles in deploying driverless self-driving system (ADS) cars because safety standards developed decades ago stipulate that such cars must be controlled by human drivers.
Last month, GM and its self-driving technology subsidiary Cruise submitted an application to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to allow the production and deployment of a self-driving car without manual controls such as steering wheels or brake pedals.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said: "For vehicles that are fully ADS-controlled, manually operated driving controls are logically unnecessary. ”
But the new rules emphasize that autonomous vehicles must provide the same level of occupant protection as human-driven vehicles.
Autonomous vehicles do not need steering wheels and acceleration and brake pedals, which means that they can save a small amount of money, which must be a very happy sight for radical car companies like Tesla.