Self-driving cars may be on the fast lane to U.S. roads under a pilot program the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Tuesday.
Self-driving cars used in the program would potentially need to have technology disabling the vehicle if a sensor fails or barring vehicles from traveling above safe speeds, NHTSA said.
NHTSA said it was considering whether it would have to be notified of any accident within 24 hours and was seeking public input on what other data should be disclosed including near misses.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation in 2017 to speed the adoption of self-driving cars, but the Senate has not approved it.
NHTSA said the pilot project would seek to find "how best to foster the safe introduction of vehicles with high and full driving automation onto our nation's roadways."
Real world data would help create methods "of validating the safety performance" of self-driving vehicles and writing safety rules, it added.
General Motors plans to deploy a ride-sharing fleet in 2019.
Alphabet's Waymo unit plans to launch an autonomous ride-hailing service in Arizona this year with no human driver behind the steering wheel. |