National Highway Traffic Safety Administration September 23, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Automotive technology is at a moment of rapid change and may evolve farther in the next decade than in the previous 45-plus year history of the Agency. As the automobile industry moves toward fully automated (self-driving) vehicles and other innovative mobility solutions, NHTSA seeks to facilitate the advance of automated technologies that currently present safety improvements and that, in the future, are likely to improve safety and decrease the number of crashes, traffic fatalities, and serious injuries on U.S. roadways. NHTSA is commanded by Congress to protect the safety of the driving public against unreasonable risks of harm that may occur because of the design, construction, or performance of a motor vehicle or motor vehicle equipment, and to mitigate risks of harm, including risks that may be emerging or contingent. As NHTSA has always done when evaluating new vehicle technologies, the Agency will be guided by its statutory mission, the laws it is obligated to enforce, and the benefits of the emerging automated safety technologies appearing on U.S. roadways. NHTSA has broad enforcement authority under existing statutes and regulations to address existing and emerging automated safety technologies. This Enforcement Guidance Bulletin sets forth NHTSA's current views on its enforcement authorityincluding its view that when vulnerabilities in automated safety technology or equipment pose an unreasonable risk to safety, those vulnerabilities constitute a safety-related defectand suggests guiding principles and best practices for motor vehicle and equipment manufacturers in this context.