Trump’s transition team is attempting to kill off a rule that forces automakers to report all accidents involving self-driving vehicles, Reuters reports.
If the rule were to be repealed, Tesla would be by far the biggest beneficiary among US automakers. Tesla has reported more than 1,500 accidents to federal safety regulators under the rule so far. This includes one where its Autopilot feature was implicated in the death of an Apple engineer in California involving a Model X, and another where a motorcyclist was killed in a collision with a Model 3 using Autopilot.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued the Standing General Order in 2021, saying it could help collect the data needed to tackle potential safety concerns early. The rule required companies to report collisions where the automated driving system was active within 30 seconds of impact to the government agency. Reuters claims its analysis of the NHTSA crash data shows that Tesla vehicles accounted for 40 out of 45 fatal crashes reported to the agency at the time of writing.
The leaked document was put together by the team in charge of creating a 100-day strategy for automotive policy, calling the rule a mandate for “excessive” data collection. However, it’s unknown if Donald Trump’s incoming administration will decide to adopt the recommendation to remove the rule.
Two NHTSA employees who spoke anonymously to Reuters said losing access to the information supplied by the reporting rule would dampen the agency’s ability to detect patterns in crashes.
Neither Tesla nor Elon Musk has officially commented on Reuters’ reports.
It’s unknown whether Musk, who donated roughly $250 million to Trump’s political campaign, influenced the team’s recommendation or if it has any link to a new position in the Department of Government Efficiency (DODGE).
But Tesla isn’t the only automaker that has been hit hard by the NHTSA’s reporting rule. In April, the watchdog began investigating Ford’s BlueCruise driver assistance technology, which features in its Mustang Mach-E electric SUVs, after two fatal crashes were reported. It was confirmed that BlueCruise was active in both vehicles “immediately prior” to hitting the stopped cars.
Meanwhile, GM’s robotaxi firm Cruise was forced to pay a $500,000 settlement to the NHTSA for providing a false record of a crash involving a pedestrian, with “the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation.”
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About Will McCurdy
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