A new autonomous vehicle framework would also make it easier for Tesla and other companies to research domestically made self-driving cars that don't meet all federal safety standards.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has decided to relax the reporting requirements for self-driving car companies, reducing the frequency of crash reports from 24 hours to once a month, as announced on June 14, 2022. This change, influenced by lobbying from the autonomous vehicle industry, aims to ease the regulatory burden on companies like Waymo and Cruise, allowing them to focus more on development and less on compliance. Critics argue that this move could compromise road safety by delaying the identification and response to potential safety issues. The new rule still mandates reporting of incidents involving a self-driving system, but the less stringent timeline has raised concerns about transparency and accountability in the rapidly evolving autonomous vehicle sector.