The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration unveiled new recommendations to states on self-driving cars, urging them to allow the use only for testing and to require safeguards to ensure they can be taken over by a driver in the case of a malfunction.NHTSA also said it was embarking on a four-year research effort on self-driving or autonomous vehicles as it considers requiring features like "automatic braking," where the car steps in for the driver to prevent crashes.
"We believe there are a number of technological issues as well as human performance issues that must be addressed before self-driving vehicles can be made widely available," NHTSA said in its 14-page automated driving policy statement. "Self-driving vehicle technology is not yet at the stage of sophistication or demonstrated safety capability that it should be authorized for use by members of the public for general driving purposes. Should a state nevertheless decide to permit such non-testing operation of self-driving vehicles, at a minimum the state should require that a properly licensed driver (i.e., one licensed to drive self-driving vehicles) be seated in the driver’s seat and be available at all times in order to operate the vehicle in situations in which the automated technology is not able to safely control the vehicle."
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