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DOT Reviewing Guidelines for Self-Driving Cars

The U.S. Dept. of Transportation is reassessing voluntary guidelines issued last autumn for autonomous vehicles amid complaints from carmakers that the approach will slow their rollout of self-driving cars.
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The U.S. Dept. of Transportation is reassessing voluntary guidelines issued last autumn for autonomous vehicles amid complaints from carmakers that the approach will slow their rollout of self-driving cars.

DOT Secretary Elaine Chao also told a meeting of the National Governors Assn. on Sunday that she wants carmakers and their tech allies in Silicon Valley to accelerate efforts to educate consumers about the safety benefits of robotic driving systems.

Last September’s guidelines would position the federal government as an overseer of largely self-certified technologies. Carmakers have warned that the process of testing and commercializing autonomous cars will be hampered if states are allowed to set their own rules about such vehicles—and if DOT requires manufacturers to file detailed reports about the operating systems involved.

Separately, Chao told the governors that DOT is eager to hear their ideas about how to pay for President Donald Trump’s proposed $1 trillion infrastructure rebuilding program.

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