The Trump transition team wants to end a federal rule requiring automakers to report crashes when advanced driver-assistance or autonomous driving technology is engaged, Reuters reports.
Federal safety agencies would lose the ability to investigate and regulate the safety of vehicles with automated-driving systems should the rule — which went into effect in 2021 — be killed.
The crash-reporting rule has allowed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to analyze data on more than 2,700 crashes, leading to 10 investigations into six companies, including Tesla and Cruise, along with nine safety recalls from four different companies, says Reuters.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has long opposed the rule, saying Tesla’s advanced driver assistance system Autopilot, and its upgraded FSD software, have been unfairly targeted. NHTSA has investigated Tesla Autopilot and FSD “supervised” software numerous times over the years. In October, the agency opened a new investigation into Tesla’s FSD software after four reported crashes in low-visibility situations — including one where a pedestrian was killed.
The industry trade group the Alliance for Automotive Innovation has also opposed the rule.