Our Website Uses Cookies
We and the third parties that provide content, functionality, or business services on our website may use cookies to collect information about your browsing activities in order to provide you with more relevant content and promotional materials, on and off the website, and help us understand your interests and improve the website.
For more information, please contact us or consult our Privacy Notice.
Your binder contains too many pages, the maximum is 40.
We are unable to add this page to your binder, please try again later.
This page has been added to your binder.
- Home
- News and Insights
- Insights
- NHTSA Launches Automated Vehicle TEST Initiative to Improve Transparency and Safety of Self-Driving Technology
NHTSA Launches Automated Vehicle TEST Initiative to Improve Transparency and Safety of Self-Driving Technology
June 26, 2020, Covington Alert
On June 15, 2020, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao announced the launch of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (“NHTSA”) Automated Vehicle Transparency and Engagement for Safe Testing (“AV TEST”) Initiative, a voluntary data-sharing initiative intended to improve safety, testing, and transparency of automated vehicle (“AV”) technology. The new initiative furthers the goals of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s policy guidance “Ensuring American Leadership in Automated Vehicle Technologies: Automated Vehicles 4.0” which, as previously discussed here, seeks a unified and consistent approach in AV technologies across 38 federal departments working to advance safe AV deployment.
Expected to launch in mid-to-late summer, the initiative marks NHTSA’s first attempt to share AV test data with the public. Initial participants include nine companies advancing AV technology and eight states: California, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Utah.
The AV TEST Initiative creates a data-sharing platform for federal, state, and local governments to coordinate and share information about AV testing and technology. The public-facing platform will disclose AV testing locations, types of motor vehicles (cars, low-speed shuttles, trucks, and driverless electric delivery vehicles), and high-level, on-road testing data, such as dates, frequency, vehicle counts, and routing information. Information can be provided on a voluntary basis by all stakeholders in the AV development and testing space, including departments of transportation and motor vehicles, city governments, and such industry participants as developers, manufacturers, suppliers, operators, and testers.
The AV TEST Initiative has received broad attention and could lead to several outcomes, including acceleration of engagements and transactions between industry players, further development of voluntary industry standards, and tracking and monitoring by agencies for safety evaluation and reporting purposes.
As with prior AV guidance, certain consumer advocacy critics have responded to the AV TEST announcement with concerns about voluntary safety regulatory regimes. The Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, for example, called the voluntary aspect of the AV TEST initiative a “recipe for disaster” and noted that only 20 out of the 80+ companies testing AVs have submitted safety assessments under NHTSA’s current voluntary guidance. By contrast, AV TEST Initiative participants have expressed optimism that the initiative will advance the collective learnings of the AV industry, improve public visibility, and enhance safety.
For more on connected and autonomous vehicles and our team, please visit Covington’s Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Toolkit, and our Artificial Intelligence Toolkit. If you have any questions concerning the material discussed in this client alert, please contact the members of our autonomous vehicles team below.
January 20, 2021, Covington Alert
The Covington Technology Forum – Data in a Connected World, will be taking place on January 27th, 28th, and 29th. Intended for legal and business professionals who manage any aspect of the data economy for their organizations, the Forum will equip attendees with the information and insights they need in order to understand the evolving legal, regulatory and ...
December 23, 2020, Inside Tech Media
Connected and automated vehicle (“CAV”) developments in Washington are likely to pick up speed as 2021 rolls in. Indeed, a new presidential administration, new agency leadership, and a new Congress may drive new CAV regulation while also spurring innovation in an industry that many believe can enhance road safety, mobility, and accessibility. For instance, John ...
Connected and Automated Vehicles Webinar Series: What's Going on with U.S. Law and Regulations?
February 27, 2019
The webinar covered such topics as federal regulations affecting connected and automated vehicles (CAVs), with a focus on NHTSA, the FAA, the FCC, and CFIUS review; where Congress stands on CAV legislation, including the AV START Act, the SELF-DRIVE Act, and infrastructure legislation; state-level legislative, regulatory, and policy developments, with a closer ...