Trump DOT proposes dropping the brake pedal requirement for fully autonomous vehicles
TL;DR
The DOT proposed removing brake pedal requirements for vehicles built exclusively for autonomous driving, a boost for Tesla’s Cybercab and Zoox.
The Trump administration’s Department of Transportation proposed on Wednesday removing the federal requirement for brake pedals in vehicles designed to be driven exclusively by automated driving systems. The rule change, if adopted, would eliminate one of the largest remaining regulatory barriers for companies building purpose-built autonomous vehicles without traditional human controls.
The proposal updates Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No 135, which governs brake systems, to drop the mandate for hand- or foot-operated brake controls in vehicles that will never have a human driver. Other braking performance requirements, including stopping distance standards, would remain in place. The public has 30 days to comment before the DOT decides whether to approve the changes.
NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison framed the move in sweeping terms. “We are at the cusp...
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