NHTSA wants more data on driver assistance crashes
Would impose penalties for failures to comply
The government is asking for more crash data from automakers in order to try and increase automated driving safety. The NHTSA is making it mandatory for automakers to supply crash reports whenever a vehicle with advanced driver-assistance systems are involved.
National Highway Transportation Safety Administration Standing General Order 2021-01 requires the makers of vehicles, equipment, and software for advanced driver systems and autonomous vehicles to report any and all crashes where the systems were on “during or immediately before the crash.”
The Agency says that this will give them access to data that will help them quickly identify safety issues that might emerge in these systems.
It includes so-called ADAS systems like radar cruise control and lane-keeping as well as hands-off driver assistance like GM’s Super Cruise, Tesla’s hands-on Autopilot, and any autonomous systems that are undergoing on-road testing.
In the event of a Level 2 assistance-equipped vehicle or Level 3-5 autonomous vehicle crash causing hospital-treated injury, fatality, airbag deployment, needing a tow, or involving vulnerable users like cyclists and pedestrians, crashes would have to be reported within one day of learning of the crash. An update would be required 10 days later.
Even without a reportable crash, automakers would be required to file a monthly report stating so. Failure to report could lead to enforcement consequences and civil penalties the NHTSA said during a virtual conference.
