NHTSA will soon post autonomous vehicle guidelines for manufacturers

Updated Aug 10, 2016
This Lexus RX450h is one of the car’s in Google’s fleet of autonomous test vehicles.This Lexus RX450h is one of the car’s in Google’s fleet of autonomous test vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) plans to release guidelines for autonomous vehicles in a few months, focusing on performance standards, policy guidelines for state regulation consistency and the agency’s governance desires for the vehicles.

According to a report by the Detroit Free Press, NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind wants the guidelines available as soon as possible (by the end of the summer) to assist automakers with standards, rather than waiting on a drawn out regulatory process from congress.

Rosekind thinks autonomous vehicles could be key to dropping vehicle fatalities.

“There is so much excitement about this area,” Rosekind says in the report. “This is the newest, greatest potential we have for reducing traffic fatalities. We are watching it be created in front of us.”

NHTSA this week is embarking on a “Safe Cars Save Lives” bus tour, traveling to nine cities beginning today and ending Aug. 13. At each stop, the agency will provide free safety checks for vehicle recalls, heatstroke prevention, tire inflation and car seat installation.

Cities on the tour include Atlanta, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Orlando, Florida; Tampa, Florida; Tallahassee, Florida; Mobile, Alabama; New Orleans, Louisiana, Houston, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; and Fort Worth, Texas.