Overview
- The agency published the draft changes on Friday, proposing optional cyan marker lamps that manufacturers can use to show a vehicle is being driven by an automated system.
- Under the plan the lights would be standardized for color, brightness and placement with one or two lamps required on the front, sides or rear at least 15 inches above the ground so law enforcement and other road users can see them.
- NHTSA would also remove several legacy interior-control and lighting rules that assume a human driver, including requirements for physical hazard switches, manual beam shifters and turn-lever behaviors, and it would update electrical testing standards to reflect modern vehicle architectures.
- The agency is taking public comment on the draft and the rulemaking process could take months to finish, but an optional federal standard could quickly become a de facto norm if widely adopted by automakers and robotaxi operators.
- The proposal comes as NHTSA continues oversight work, including an audit query into Tesla’s Cybercab certification, and follows limited state and foreign experiments with similar colors such as Mercedes’ earlier turquoise tests.