Overview
- NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said on Thursday that steering-wheel requirements for fully driverless, purpose-built vehicles “no longer make sense” and could be removed within five to ten years.
- The agency formally proposed eliminating the physical brake-pedal rule under FMVSS No. 135 on June 26 and opened a public-comment period that runs through July 27.
- Regulators say hardware mandates could be dropped only for vehicles never intended for human operation while stopping-distance and other performance standards and NHTSA enforcement powers remain in force.
- Tesla has shifted Cybercab production at Giga Texas to steering-wheel-free builds without filing an FMVSS exemption, and CEO Elon Musk says broader deployment will follow regulatory approval.
- NHTSA has stepped up oversight by overseeing software recalls (including a May recall of 3,791 Waymo robotaxis) and has sent operators letters demanding fixes for how AVs behave at emergency-response scenes and warning against relying on remote drivers.