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Automakers want NHTSA to remove regulatory barriers

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Industry thinks Congress could pass rules avoiding state

patchwork of requirements

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US vehicle fatality rate more than double the average of

other

high-income countries

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - Major automakers want

Congress and the Trump administration to move faster to make it

easier to deploy autonomous vehicles without human controls as

new robotaxi tests expand.

Congress has been divided for years about whether to pass

legislation to address deployment hurdles, while the National

Highway Traffic Safety Administration has not moved quickly to

rewrite safety rules or allow exemptions for up to 2,500

vehicles without human controls annually and ease other hurdles.

"The auto industry wants, it needs a functioning and

effective auto safety regulator. We don't have that today," said

Alliance for Automotive Innovation CEO John Bozzella at a U.S.

House of Representatives hearing on Thursday. "The agency isn't

nimble. Rulemakings take too long if they come at all."

Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association Director Jeff Farrah

urged Congress to pass long-stalled nationwide legislation to

allow the United States to globally lead on AVs as China moves

aggressively in the field.

"Right now we are fighting with one hand tied behind our

back," Farrah said. Companies have pushed for more action for

years.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in April that

a new department framework to boost autonomous vehicles would

help U.S. automakers compete with Chinese rivals.

Earlier this month, NHTSA said it would speed reviews of

requests from automakers to deploy self-driving vehicles without

required human controls like steering wheels, brake pedals or

mirrors.

Representative Frank Pallone of New Jersey, a Democrat,

cited reports showing NHTSA has lost as much as 35% of its

expert staff this year through layoffs and other exits, which

puts the ability of the agency to function at risk.

NHTSA said "significantly fewer people have left" than

Pallone suggested and that it remains "staffed to continue to

conduct all safety- and mission-critical work" and is boosting

its Office of Autonomous Safety.

Meanwhile, U.S. traffic deaths remain sharply above

pre-COVID levels. Despite falling 3.8% in 2024 to 39,345, they

are still significantly higher than the 36,355 killed in 2019

and double the average rate of other high-income countries.

"NHTSA is failing to meet the moment," Insurance Institute

for Highway Safety President David Harkey told lawmakers.

"In recent years, it has approached its job with a lack of

urgency, using flawed methodologies that underestimate the

safety benefits of obviously beneficial interventions," he said.

NHTSA routinely fails to write regulations even when

directed by Congress and has often gone years without a

Senate-confirmed leader.