The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced today that it would require automakers selling or testing advanced driver aids and autonomous technology to inform it of any accidents those vehicles are involved in within a day of the incident.
“NHTSA’s statutory mandate includes the exercise of its authority to proactively ensure that motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment, including those with novel technologies, perform in ways that ‘protect[] [sic] the public against unreasonable risk of accidents occurring because of the design, construction, or performance of a motor vehicle, and against unreasonable risk of death or injury in an accident,'” it wrote in a standing general order to automakers. As a result, it is endeavoring to keep a closer eye on the development of these technologies.
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As level 2 advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) become more commonplace, the technology is coming under scrutiny following a number of highly publicized accidents involving Teslas. The decision doesn’t simply target that automaker, though.
As more and more manufacturers test level 3 and up autonomous technology, some of those tests are happening on public roads and NHTSA wants to gather data on those vehicles and the accidents in which they are involved.
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“Gathering data will help instill public confidence that the federal government is closely overseeing the safety of automated vehicles,” said Steven Cliff, the NHTSA’s acting administrator, per Reuters.
The order follows the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee’s decision to vote down a bill that would have given automakers greater access to public roads for testing purposes. Although the proponents of the bill called it a move against the progress, the commission’s decision appears to be part of a trend towards caution in the U.S.
