Alphabet Inc.'s self-driving vehicle arm, Waymo LLC, asked the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to "promptly remove barriers" in the drafting of rules for vehicles with automated driving systems.
Waymo was responding to the NHTSA's request for comments on its proposed rulemaking for cars without the traditional manual controls that are necessary for a human driver to control a vehicle.
The department started seeking comments in May to help it develop a proposal to amend the crash avoidance rules under its Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, or FMVSS.
According to Waymo, the NHTSA "should move rapidly to the next stage of rulemaking by proposing a rule amending FMVSS language that requires manual controls or assumes their presence for compliance testing."
The company said the NHTSA would already be able to draft a comprehensive proposed rule and final rule with the responses it received from three related proposals on removing regulatory barriers, in addition to the work completed or underway by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.
Meanwhile, General Motors Co., which operates its own self-driving platform, GM Cruise LLC, also responded to the NHTSA, saying "it is imperative that NHTSA continue[s] to drive this critical dialogue with a sense of urgency so that the necessary regulatory evolution keeps pace with advancing technology."
GM added that the NHTSA and manufacturers should agree on appropriate test parameters for self-driving systems. This was echoed by Ford Motor Co., which said the department "will need to work closely with [automated vehicle] developers to acquire and stage vehicles for compliance verification testing."
In a separate comment, Japan's Honda Motor Co. Ltd. said the agency should consider the development of a specific vehicle class for cars with automated driving systems in order to differentiate them from the existing "low-speed" vehicles class.
Meanwhile, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, also suggested addressing the existing FMVSS regulations "via modifications to the requirements, compliance test procedures, or legal interpretation, that can be accomplished without undermining the safety goals" of the rule.
The alliance counts major automakers as its members, including Ford, General Motors, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, Tata Motors Ltd.-owned Jaguar Land Rover Ltd., Mazda Motor Corp., Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz USA LLC, Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG and its Porsche AG unit, Mitsubishi Motors Corp., and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Ltd.-owned Volvo Car Corp.
