U.S. Moves to Drop Steering Wheel Mandate for Self-Driving Cars

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is considering eliminating the requirement that autonomous vehicles must be equipped with a steering wheel. On July 9, agency head Jonathan Morrison stated that NHTSA is evaluating revisions to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) to accommodate the development of fully self-driving vehicles. Earlier this year, in March, NHTSA proposed amending FMVSS No. 102 to exempt fully autonomous vehicles from requirements related to gearshift position displays, and in June, it proposed revising FMVSS No. 135 to remove the mandatory brake pedal requirement. Companies such as Tesla and Zoox, owned by Amazon, stand to benefit directly from these regulatory changes. Tesla has already begun testing its production-model Cybercab in Austin, Texas—a vehicle designed without a steering wheel or pedals, relying entirely on its autonomous driving system. Similarly, Zoox’s robotaxi features a steering-wheel-free design and has already received a federal safety standards exemption from NHTSA. Despite this regulatory flexibility, NHTSA emphasized that safety standards must not be compromised and has issued warnings to multiple autonomous vehicle companies, requiring their vehicles not to interfere with emergency responders carrying out their duties.