Get the latest tech news

Feds clear the way for robotaxis without steering wheels and pedals

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday proposed a new national framework that could make it easier for companies to deploy at scale

The program’s goal, among other things, was to allow NHTSA to greenlight the sale and commercialization of autonomous vehicles that are not compliant with federal safety standards due to a lack of manual controls. NHTSA’s call for more data comes as President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has signaled a desire to quash a Biden-era requirement for car-crash reporting that Musk and Tesla oppose. “Expanding the deployment of ADS – and without the safety protections provided by FMVSSs – at this time seems premature and lacks independent research and data to support the action,” Chase said in a statement.

Get the Android app