The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed a voluntary national program to evaluate and provide oversight of vehicles equipped with automated driving systems.

The ADS-equipped Vehicle Safety, Transparency, and Evaluation Program (AV STEP) would establish a voluntary review and reporting framework for participating ADS-equipped vehicles. The program would be open to all companies that operate or plan to operate compliant ADS vehicles on public roads and those requiring NHTSA exemptions to operate non-compliant vehicles.

“AV STEP would provide a valuable national framework at a pivotal time in the development of ADS technology,” said NHTSA Chief Counsel Adam Raviv, in a press release. “Safe, transparent, and responsible development is critical for this technology to be trusted by the public and reach its full potential. This proposal lays the foundation for those goals and supports NHTSA’s safety mission. We encourage everyone to comment on our proposed program.”

AV STEP would promote greater transparency in participating ADS operations and help the agency study and oversee ADS technology as it matures, NHTSA said.

“Data are fundamental to NHTSA’s work, and the proposed program would provide NHTSA and the public with greater insight into ADS development and operational data,” the release states.

AV STEP also aligns with the U.S. Department of Technology’s National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS). The goal of the strategy is to reach zero deaths on U.S. roads through a safe system approach.

Before the establishment of the NRSS, NHTSA issued a Standing General Order (SGO) that requires OEMs to report details about crashes involving vehicles equipped with ADS or SAE Level 2 advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) if the systems are in use within 30 seconds of a collision that causes injury or property damage. The requirements include the submittal of crash reports within a certain timeframe based on the severity of the crash. It also must include pre-crash, crash, and post-crash details.

The newest ADS development will provide enhanced transparency that promotes responsible development, public awareness, and accelerated learning about the technology for automakers, operators, municipalities, researchers, and policymakers, according to NHTSA.

Under AV STEP, NHTSA’s assessment of an application would be informed by the views of an independent third-party assessor, NHTSA says.

“In the future, as ADS technologies mature, NHTSA anticipates there may be a need to establish minimum standards for ADS safety performance, much as NHTSA’s existing FMVSS govern the performance of conventional vehicle systems and attributes,” the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) states.

“However, the data, methods, and metrics to support such standards do not yet exist. Many of the elements included in this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) are intended to help NHTSA obtain insight and data that could, in turn, support the future development of such standards. Pending such future developments, AV STEP would serve as a national program built for the evolving state of the technology, offering an interim boost to regulatory oversight and a process for motor vehicle manufacturers and other participants to build public trust by demonstrating a commitment to responsible safety practices, accountability, and transparency.”

NHTSA also says AV STEP would include two new exemption processes designed to optimize the administration of ADS exemptions that build on the agency’s experience with past ADS exemptions “to offer additional paths for regulatory flexibility.”

The public can submit comments for 60 days once it’s published at regulations.gov in docket No. NHTSA-2024-0100.

“Automated driving systems (ADS) are evolving rapidly, posing challenges to vehicle manufacturers and the agency alike regarding the safety of the traveling public,” the NPRM states. “It is important that ADS technology be deployed in a manner that protects the public from unreasonable safety risk while at the same time allowing for responsible development of this technology, which has the potential to advance safety.

“[T]he FMVSS do not currently set performance standards specifically for ADS. Vehicles that are compliant with all applicable FMVSS can generally be equipped with ADS technology without NHTSA approval. Alternatively, if an ADS-equipped vehicle does not comply with all applicable FMVSS, exemptions may be requested from NHTSA. Past exemption requests involving ADS have typically involved purpose-built vehicles (those designed specifically for ADS operations).”

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