NHTSA partners with SAE for AV standards

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Administrator Jonathan Morrison announced a cooperative agreement with SAE to expedite the development of data-driven AV performance standards during last week’s AI Horizons Pittsburgh (PGH) Summit. 

The Advancing America’s Safety & Competitiveness for the Evolution of National Deployments (A2SCEND) Consortium will provide a neutral, collaborative forum for industry members, an SAE press release states. This includes AV designers, developers, manufacturers, and fleet operators of SAE Level 3 and above automated driving systems. It will also include government and other stakeholders to address complex technical issues. 

“This joint government and industry initiative will expedite the development of data-driven AV performance standards,” Morrison said at the summit. “Our top priority for the consortium is ADS competency, which will inform and accelerate a corresponding FMVSS.”

He said a federal AV competency standard will hopefully address a patchwork of inconsistent state- and local-level requirements, while continuing to encourage innovation. 

“Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has charged the Department of Transportation with ushering in the Golden Age of Transportation, and we stand at a moment in time at which technology provides the opportunity to radically change the way we live, and move people and goods,” Morrison said during the summit. 

NHTSA is enabling technology advancements, while maintaining rigorous safety oversight, as it develops competency standards for automated driving systems, Morrison said. 

“We’re looking to support innovation because automated driving systems hold incredible potential promise, unlocking mobility options for senior citizens, people with disabilities, and others who are unable to or don’t want to drive for a variety of reasons — because they’ve been drinking or maybe just because they’ve had a bad day and a long flight and they just don’t want to talk to a stranger on their ride home,” Morrison said. “Importantly, this technology has the potential to enable full participation in our society and economy for the many left behind due to an inability to drive.”

AVs also play a role in addressing a fatality crisis on U.S. roadways, Morrison said. Risking driving behaviors like speeding or driving distracted, fatigued, or drunk play a role in tens of thousands of deaths annually, he said. He added that AVs could potentially eliminate many of these dangerous behaviors. 

“But this future is not guaranteed,” Morrison said. “We’ll only see these benefits and transformations if people choose to adopt the technology, and they’ll only adopt it if they trust it. Safety as the foundation of everything you do will help establish that trust. And as with everything else in life, trust must be earned.”

NHTSA will act on unreasonable risks; a topic the agency frequently discusses with AV companies, state officials, local governments, and first responders, he said.

The agency has opened several investigations and secured multiple recalls on ADAS-equipped vehicles, he said. 

Recently, NHTSA directed AV developers to develop solutions after seeing a “clear pattern of AVs interfering with law enforcement and first responders.” 

“But it’s not fair or good public policy to play whack-a-mole, shaking our fists at things we don’t like, while staying silent on expectations,” Morrison said. “This is why we’ve been so active in engaging with our co-regulators in state and local government, the industry, safety experts, and first responders.”

NHTSA’s first voluntary guidance document, AV 2.0, was created in 2017, he said. The agency is working on updated guidance. 

“We’re focusing on critical safety elements, such as emergency responder interactions, safety management systems, and remote assistance,” Morrison said. “And while we have ideas and strong opinions on safety assurance, this guidance will be improved by participation from other safety and technical experts, including many in this room.”

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) rework is necessary to ensure regulations remain current, Morrison said. 

“And so many of our regulations were designed when no one envisioned a vehicle without a human driver, and therefore require or reference manual controls,” Morrison said. “This means that the technology of the future is often tethered to the regulations of the past. So we are working diligently on much-needed FMVSS updates to account for new designs enabled by automated driving systems, without compromising safety.”

In March, NHTSA announced plans to research ways to update its regulations for autonomous driving. 

Morrison said that NHTSA wants to hear from stakeholders throughout the process. 

“Transparency facilitates prioritization of safety, and with it, public trust,” Morrison said. “I strongly encourage AV developers to adopt the same transparency practices with state and local governments as well. Our doors are open for mature discussion, information gathering, and technical engagement. We have incredibly knowledgeable employees working in our enforcement, rulemaking, and research teams, and I appreciate how hard they’ve worked to advance these administration priorities.”

NHTSA’s Deputy Administrator Lee White will open the Society of Collision Repair Specialists’ (SCRS) 2026 OEM Collision Repair Technology Summit during this year’s SEMA Show in Las Vegas.  

White will present on the agency’s current vehicle and roadway safety priorities, emerging transportation technologies, data-driven research, and the federal government’s work with the industry to reduce fatalities and serious injuries, an SCRS press release states. 

The session titled “The National Safety Objective: Safer Vehicles, Safer Roads” will be held Thursday, Nov. 5, from 12:30-1:30 p.m. 

Following White’s presentation, he will sit down with Aaron Schulenburg, SCRS executive director, for a one-on-one conversation exploring the intersection between federal safety objectives, automotive innovation, and the collision repair industry’s role in preserving vehicle safety throughout its service life.

Register for the session here or all three OEM Summit sessions here.  

The OEM Collision Repair Technology Summit is part of SCRS’ Repairer Driven Education (RDE) series held Nov. 3-6 during the SEMA Show. 

Register for a full series pass here. Early bird pricing is available through Sept. 25. 

Image

Photo courtesy of Andrey Suslov/iStock