Removing Regulatory Barriers for Vehicles With Automated Driving Systems |
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Nathaniel Beuse
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
13 February 2018
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 13, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 6148-6152]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02895]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
49 CFR Part 571
[Docket No. NHTSA-2018-0009]
Removing Regulatory Barriers for Vehicles With Automated Driving
Systems
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), U.S.
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Request for comment; public meeting.
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SUMMARY: NHTSA is announcing a public meeting as part of the Agency's
effort to seek public comments to identify any regulatory barriers in
the existing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) to the
testing, compliance certification, and compliance verification of
vehicles with Automated Driving Systems (ADSs) and certain
unconventional interior designs. The Agency published a Federal
Register Notice of Request for Comments (RFC) titled Removing
Regulatory Barriers for Vehicles with Automated Driving Systems on
January 18, 2018, that included specific questions for which the Agency
seeks comment (83 FR 2607, Docket No. NHTSA-2018-0009). NHTSA is
holding this public meeting to present to the public a summary of the
RFC and activities underway at NHTSA and across the industry regarding
the identification and removal of barriers that might impede safe
deployment of ADSs. This material is intended to better inform the
public as they prepare comments in response to the RFC. Public comments
are welcome at this meeting, but all should be oral, and any supporting
presentations or materials should be submitted to the docket for
consideration.
DATES: NHTSA will hold the public meeting on March 6, 2018, in
Washington, DC. The meeting will start at 10 a.m. and continue until
3:30 p.m., EST. Check-in (through security) will begin at 9 a.m.
Attendees should arrive early enough to enable them to go through
security by 9:50 a.m.
[[Page 6149]]
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the U.S. Department of
Transportation headquarters building located at 1200 New Jersey Avenue
SE, Washington, DC 20590 (Green Line Metro Station at Navy Yard) in the
Conference Center. This facility is accessible to individuals with
disabilities. The meeting will also be webcast live, and a link to the
actual webcast will be available on NHTSA's technical ADSs website
https://www.nhtsa.gov/manufacturers/automated-driving-systems.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions about the public
meeting, please contact us at av_info_nhtsa@dot.gov or Debbie Sweet at
debbie.sweet@dot.gov, 202-366-7179.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Registration is encouraged for all attendees. Attendees should
register at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NHTSABarriers by March 2,
2018. Please provide name, affiliation, and email, indicate if you wish
to offer remarks (speaking would be limited to 10 minutes per person),
and please indicate whether you are requesting specific accommodations.
Space is limited, so advanced registration is encouraged.
Although attendees will be given the opportunity to offer comments,
the Agency is limiting comments to oral only. We may not be able to
accommodate all attendees who wish to make oral comments and will
arrange the speakers on a first-come, first-served basis. However, if
time does not allow for all comments during the meeting, comments may
be submitted to the docket and will carry the same weight during review
and analysis.
Should it be necessary to cancel the meeting due to inclement
weather or other emergency, NHTSA will take all available measures to
notify registered participants.
NHTSA will conduct the public meeting informally, and technical
rules of evidence will not apply. We will arrange for a written
transcript of the meeting and keep the official record open for 30 days
after the meeting to allow submission of supplemental information. You
may make arrangements for copies of the transcripts directly with the
court reporter, and the transcript will also be posted in the docket
when it becomes available. The webcast will be recorded and posted to
the NHTSA website as well.
Written Comments: Written statements and supporting information
submitted during the comment period will be considered with the same
weight as oral comments and supporting information presented at the
public meeting. Please submit all written comments no later than April
5, 2018, by any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
Mail: Docket Management Facility: U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building Ground Floor,
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001, between
9 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.
Fax: 202-366-1767.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
docket number. Note that all comments received will be posted without
change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal
information provided. Please see the Privacy Act discussion below.
Docket: For access to the docket go to http://www.regulations.gov
at any time or to 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays. Telephone: 202-366-
9826.
Privacy Act: Anyone can search the electronic form of all comments
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on
April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78), or you may visit
http://www.regulations.gov/privacyNotice.
Confidential Business Information: If you wish to submit any
information under a claim of confidentiality, you should submit three
copies of your complete submission, including the information you claim
to be confidential business information to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at
the address given under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. In addition,
you should submit two copies from which you have deleted the claimed
confidential business information, to Docket Management at the address
given above. When you send a comment containing information claimed to
be confidential business information, you should submit a cover letter
setting forth the information specified in our confidential business
information regulation (49 CFR part 512).
Background: NHTSA wants to avoid impeding progress with unnecessary
or unintended regulatory barriers to motor vehicles that have Automated
Driving Systems (ADSs) and unconventional designs, especially those
with unconventional interior designs. To enable vehicles with ADSs and
with unconventional interiors while maintaining those existing safety
requirements that will be needed and appropriate for those vehicles,
NHTSA is developing plans and proposals for removing or modifying
existing regulatory barriers to testing and compliance certification in
those areas for which existing data and knowledge are sufficient to
support decision-making. In other areas, plans and proposals cannot be
developed until the completion of near-term research to determine how
to revise the test procedures for those vehicles.
Part of NHTSA's responsibility in carrying out its safety mission
is not only to develop and set new safety standards for new motor
vehicles and motor vehicle equipment, but also to modify existing
standards as necessary to respond to changing circumstances such as the
introduction of new technologies. Examples of previous technological
transitions that triggered the need to adapt and/or replace
requirements in the FMVSS include the replacing of analog dashboards by
digital ones, the replacing of mechanical control systems by electronic
ones, and the first production of electric vehicles in appreciable
numbers. The existing FMVSS can be found in the Code of Federal
Regulations at 49 CFR part 571.
Almost all of NHTSA's FMVSS were developed and established well
before ADS vehicles became a practicable possibility. As a result, the
minimum performance requirements and test procedures in many of the
FMVSS are based on assumptions about drivers occupying and controlling
the vehicle. If a vehicle is designed so that only an ADS can control
it rather than the human driver, and vehicle designers modify the
passenger compartment, then many of the original assumptions will
likely be invalid for that vehicle, and some may be problematic from a
testing perspective.
Meeting and Draft Agenda: This public meeting is being held during
the open comment period. The meeting is intended to present information
regarding the RFC, questions of interest, activities within NHTSA with
respect to barrier removal and activities external to NHTSA regarding
barrier removal. This information will in turn provide more
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thorough background for those submitting comments to the RFC. Following
presentations by NHTSA and various stakeholders, the public will have
an opportunity to provide remarks. Individuals who register to speak at
the Public Meeting will have 10 minutes to present oral remarks to
NHTSA staff. Clarification questions may be asked of the presenters.
Those registered to provide remarks will have the first opportunity to
speak. The meeting agenda follows:
9:00-9:55 a.m.--Arrival/Check-In
9:55-10:00 a.m.--Meeting Logistics
10:00-10:05 a.m.--Welcome Remarks
10:05-10:20 a.m.--NHTSA Remark Regarding RFC
10:20-10:50 a.m.--Presentation of NHTSA/VTTI Research
10:50-11:00 a.m.--Questions for NHTSA/VTTI
11:00-11:50 a.m.--Presentation of Industry Activities
11:50 a.m.-12:00 p.m.--Questions for Industry
12:00-1:00 p.m.--Lunch
1:00-2:15 p.m.--Comments from Registered Attendees
2:15-2:30 p.m.--Break
2:30-3:30 p.m.--Comments from Registered Attendees
Specific Guiding Questions: To help guide NHTSA's research to
address testing and self-certification issues, we seek comments on the
topics below (the same questions as presented in the Request for
Comments). The Agency urges that, where possible, comments be supported
by data and analysis to increase their usefulness. Please clearly
indicate the source of such data.
A. Barriers to Testing, Certification, and Compliance Verification
1. What are the different categories of barriers that the FMVSS
potentially create to the testing, certification and compliance
verification of a new ADS vehicle lacking manual driving controls?
Examples of barrier categories include the following:
a. Test procedures that cannot be conducted for vehicles with ADSs
and with innovative interior designs; and
b. performance requirements that may serve a reduced safety purpose
or even no safety purpose at all for vehicles with ADSs and thus
potentially impose more cost and more restrictions on design than are
warranted.
The first of the above categories is the primary focus of this
document. However, the Agency seeks comments on both categories of
barriers. If you believe that there are still other barrier categories,
please identify them.
2. NHTSA requests comments on the statement made in NHTSA's
February 2016 letter of interpretation to Google: That if a FMVSS lacks
a test procedure that is suitable for the Agency's use in verifying a
manufacturer's certification of compliance with a provision in that
FMVSS, the manufacturer cannot validly certify the compliance of its
vehicles with that provision. Do commenters agree that each of the
standards identified in the letter as needing to be amended before
manufacturers can certify compliance with it must be amended in order
to permit certification? Why or why not? If there are other solutions,
please describe them.
3. Do you agree (or disagree) that the FMVSS provisions identified
in the Volpe report or Google letter as posing barriers to testing and
certification are, in fact, barriers? Please explain why.
4. Do commenters think there are FMVSS provisions that pose
barriers to testing and certification of innovative new vehicle
designs, but were not covered in the Volpe report or Google letter? If
so, what are they, how do they pose barriers, and how do you believe
NHTSA should consider addressing them?
5. Are there ways to solve the problems that may be posed by any of
these FMVSS provisions without conducting additional research? If so,
what are they and why do you believe that no further research is
necessary? For example, can some apparent problems be solved through
interpretation? If so, which ones?
6. Similarly, are there ways to solve the problems that may be
posed by any of these FMVSS provisions without rulemaking? For example,
can some apparent problems be solved through interpretation without
either additional research or through rulemaking? If so, which ones?
7. In contrast, if a commenter believes that legislation might be
necessary to enable NHTSA to remove a barrier identified by the
commenter, please explain why, and please identify the specific
existing law that the commenter thinks should be changed and describe
how it should be changed. If there are associated regulations that the
commenter believes should be changed, please identify the specific CFR
citation and explain why they need to be changed.
8. Many FMVSS contain test procedures that are based on the assumed
presence of a human driver and will therefore likely need to be amended
to accommodate vehicles that cannot be driven by humans. Other FMVSS
test procedures may seem, based on a plain reading of their language,
to accommodate vehicles that cannot be driven by humans, but it may
nevertheless be unclear how NHTSA (or a manufacturer attempting to
self-certify to the test) would instruct the vehicle to perform the
test as written.
a. Do commenters believe that these procedures should apply to a
vehicle that cannot be driven by a human? If so, why? If there are data
to support this position, please provide it.
b. If not, can NHTSA test in some other manner? Please identify the
alternative manner and explain why it would be appropriate.
9. What research would be necessary to determine how to instruct a
vehicle with an ADS, but without manual means of control, to follow a
driving test procedure? Is it possible to develop a single approach to
inputting these ``instructions'' in a manner applicable to all vehicle
designs and all FMVSS, or will the approach need to vary? If so, why
and how? If commenters believe there is a risk of gaming, what would
that risk be and how could it be reduced or prevented?
10. In lieu of the approaches suggested in questions 8 and 9, is
there an alternative means of demonstrating equivalent level of safety
that is reliable, objective and practicable?
11. For FMVSS that include test procedures that assume a human
driver is seated in a certain seating position (for example, procedures
that assess whether a rearview mirror provides an image in the correct
location), should NHTSA simply amend the FMVSS to require, for
instance, that ``driver's seat'' requirements apply to any front
seating position? If so, please explain why. If not, what research
would need to be conducted to determine how NHTSA should amend those
requirements?
12. A variety of FMVSS require safety-related dashboard telltales
and other displays, if provided, to be visible to a human driver and
controls to be within reach of that driver. Generally speaking, is
there a safety need for the telltales and other displays in Table 1 and
2 of FMVSS No. 101 to be visible to any of the occupants in vehicles
without manual driving controls? Commenters are requested to provide
their own list of the telltales and other displays they believe are
most relevant to meeting any potential safety need in those vehicles.
For each item on that list, please answer the following questions:
a. Should the telltale or other display be required to be visible
to one or more vehicle occupants in vehicles without manual driving
controls?
b. If there is a need for continued visibility, to the occupant(s)
of which seating position(s) should the telltale or other display be
visible?
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c. Does the answer to the question about the continued need for a
telltale or other display to be visible to the occupant of a vehicle
without manual driving controls change if a manufacturer equips the
vehicle with a device like an ``emergency stop button''? Why or why
not?
d. Would the informational safety needs of the occupants of
vehicles with ADSs differ depending on whether the vehicle has a full
set of manual driving controls, just an emergency stop button, or no
controls whatsoever?
e. Conversely, if a vehicle is designed such that it can be driven
only by an ADS, does the ADS need to be provided with some or all the
same information currently required to be provided for a human driver?
For example, does the ADS need to know if the tires are underinflated?
Why or why not?
f. If commenters believe that it would enhance safety if a
vehicle's ADS were required to receive information similar to some or
all of that currently required to be provided to human drivers by
telltales and other displays, what research needs to be conducted to
develop the kinds of objective and practicable performance requirements
or test procedures that would enable manufacturers and the Agency to
evaluate whether that information was provided to and understood by the
ADS?
13. If NHTSA is going to conduct research to determine whether
there is any safety need for the occupants of fully self-driving
vehicles to continue to have any access to any of the non-driving
controls (e.g., controls for windshield washer/wiper system, turn
signals, and lights) in a vehicle without manual driving controls, what
should that research include and how should NHTSA conduct it?
a. If there is a safety need for the occupants of fully self-
driving vehicles to have access to any of the existing vehicle non-
driving controls, please identify those controls and explain the safety
need.
b. Do commenters believe that research should be conducted to
determine whether any additional controls (such as an emergency stop
button) might be necessary for safety or public acceptance if manual
driving controls are removed from fully-self-driving vehicles? Why or
why not, and what is the basis for your belief?
c. If NHTSA is going to conduct research to determine whether there
is any safety need for the occupants of fully self-driving vehicles to
continue to be able to control exterior lighting like turn signals and
headlamp beam switching devices, what should that research include and
how should NHTSA conduct it? Separately, if NHTSA is going to conduct
research on what exterior lighting continues to be needed for safety
when a human is not driving, what should that research include and how
should NHTSA conduct it?
14. If NHTSA is going to conduct research to determine whether
there is a safety need for the occupants of vehicles with ADSs, but
without manual driving controls, to be able to see to the side and
behind those vehicles using mirrors or cameras, what should that
research include and how should NHTSA conduct it? Separately, if NHTSA
is going to conduct research to determine how NHTSA would test the
ability of a vehicle's ADS to ``see'' around and behind the vehicle as
well as (or better than) a human driver would, what should that
research include and how should NHTSA conduct it?
15. Do the FMVSS create testing and certification issues for
vehicles with ADSs other than those discussed above? If so, which FMVSS
do so and why do you believe they present such issues? For example,
FMVSS No. 108, ``Lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment,''
could potentially pose obstacles to certifying the compliance of a
vehicle that uses exterior lighting and messaging, through words or
symbols, to communicate to nearby pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists,
such as at a 4-way stop intersection, the vehicle's awareness of their
presence and the vehicle's willingness to cede priority of movement to
any of those people. If research is needed to eliminate the barriers in
an appropriate way, please describe the research and explain why it is
needed. Are there other lighting issues that should be considered? For
example, what lighting will be needed to ensure the proper functioning
of the different types of vehicle sensors, especially cameras whose
functions include reading traffic control signs?
16. If occupants of vehicles with ADSs, especially those without
manual driving controls, are less likely to sit in what is now called
the driver's seating position or are less likely to sit in seats that
are facing forward, how should these factors affect existing
requirements for crashworthiness safety features?
17. If vehicles with ADSs have emergency controls that can be
accessed through unconventional means, such as a smart phone or multi-
purpose display and have unconventional interiors, how should the
Agency address those controls?
18. Are there any specific regulatory barriers related to small
businesses that NHTSA should consider, specifically those that may help
facilitate small business participation in this emerging technology?
B. Research Needed To Address Those Barriers and NHTSA's Role in
Conducting It
19. For issues about FMVSS barriers that NHTSA needs research to
resolve, do commenters believe that there are specific items that would
be better addressed through research by outside stakeholders, such as
industry or research organizations, instead of by NHTSA itself?
a. Which issues is industry better equipped to undertake on its
own, and why? Which issues are research organizations or other
stakeholders better equipped to undertake on their own, and why?
b. What research is needed to determine which types of safety
performance metrics should be used to evaluate a particular safety
capability and to develop a test procedure for evaluating how well a
vehicle performs in terms of those metrics?
c. Which questions is NHTSA better equipped to undertake and why?
For example, would NHTSA, as the regulator, be the more appropriate
party to conduct research needed to determine what performance
threshold to require vehicles to meet with respect to that metric? Why
or why not?
d. What research has industry, research organizations, and other
stakeholders done related to barriers to testing and certification?
What research are they planning to do? With respect to research planned
but not yet completed, please identify the research and state the
expected starting and end dates for that research.
e. How can NHTSA, industry, states, research organizations, and
other stakeholders work together to ensure that, if the research on
these issues were eventually to lead to rulemaking, it is done with the
rigor and thoroughness that NHTSA would need to meet its statutory
obligations, regardless of who performs it (e.g., done in a manner that
enables the Agency to ensure that FMVSS are and remain objective and
practicable, and continue to meet the need for safety)?
20. For the issues identified above or by commenters, which merit
the most attention? How should the Agency prioritize its research and
any follow-on rulemakings to remove the barriers to testing and
certification?
21. Correcting barriers associated with the track testing of motor
vehicles will
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be particularly challenging. Examples of such barriers follow:
a. FMVSS No. 126 specifies the use of an automated steering machine
that depends on a vehicle's steering wheel to steer vehicles when they
are tested for compliance. NHTSA will need to determine how to amend
the standard to enable the Agency to conduct stability control testing
in vehicles that lack a steering wheel. Further, if NHTSA is going to
conduct research to consider how to change the ``sine with dwell'' test
procedure for FMVSS No. 126 so that steering wheel angle need not be
measured at the steering wheel in determining compliance with the
standard, what should that research include and how should NHTSA
conduct it?
b. If NHTSA is going to conduct research to develop a performance
test to verify how a vehicle is activating its service brakes, what
should that research include and how should NHTSA conduct it? If NHTSA
is going to conduct research to determine whether there continues to be
a safety need to maintain a human-operable service brake, what should
that research include and how should NHTSA conduct it?
22. Are there industry standards, existing or in development, that
may be suitable for incorporation by reference by NHTSA in accordance
with the standards provisions of the National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act of 1995 and Office of Management and Budget Circular A-
119, ``Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary
Consensus Standards and Conformity Assessment Activities?''
Issued in Washington, DC, under authority delegated by 49 CFR
1.95.
Nathaniel Beuse,
Associate Administrator for Vehicle Safety Research.
[FR Doc. 2018-02895 Filed 2-12-18; 8:45 am]
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