NHTSA to Hold Public Meeting on Automated Vehicles Policy

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced a public meeting to seek input on sections of the recently released Federal Automated Vehicles Policy (the Policy).

NHTSA seeks input specifically on the Model State Policy and Modern Regulatory Tools sections of the policy, according to the NHTSA announcement.

The federal policy seeks to speed the delivery of an initial regulatory framework for highly automated vehicles (HAVs) as well as encourage conformance with best practices to guide manufacturers and other entities in the safe design, development, testing, and deployment of HAVs.

NHTSA will hold the public meeting on December 12, 2016, in Arlington, Va., at the United States Army Conference and Event Center (CEC), located at 2425 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201 (Courthouse Metro Station). This facility is accessible to individuals with disabilities. The meeting will start at 8:30 a.m. and continue until 5 p.m. local time. Check-in will begin at 8 a.m. Attendees should arrive early enough to be seated by 8:30 a.m. The meeting will also be webcast live, and a link to the webcast will be available through http://www.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/av/index.html.

Held in two distinct parts, the public meeting in the morning session will be an open listening session for the Model State Policy. In the afternoon session, there will be moderated panel discussions on the Modern Regulatory Tools. All comments during the public meeting will be oral.

The Model State Policy builds on collective knowledge gathered from safety stakeholders, and is intended to help avoid a patchwork of inconsistent laws and regulations. It outlines states’ roles in regulating HAVs and lays out model procedures and requirements for use by states that wish to enact laws governing HAVs.

The Modern Regulatory Tools section includes potential new tools and authorities that could help NHTSA overcome the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities involved in the safe and expeditious development of HAVs.

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