NHTSA mandates crash reports from automated vehicle companies

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will require crash reports for automated vehicles, the agency announced on Tuesday, June 29.

NHTSA’s standing general order applies to manufacturers and the companies that operate vehicles equipped with Level 2 advanced driver assistance systems or Levels 3-5 automated driving systems.

“NHTSA’s core mission is safety,” NHTSA acting Administrator Steven Cliff said in a news release. “By mandating crash reporting, the agency will have access to critical data that will quickly help identify safety issues that could emerge in these automated systems. In fact, gathering data will help instill public confidence that the federal government is closely overseeing the safety of automated vehicles.”

According to NHTSA, the reporting obligations in the order apply only to vehicle and equipment manufacturers and operators of these automated vehicles. The companies included are specified in the order. NHTSA says the order does not apply to individual consumers or other entities, such as vehicle dealers or drivers.

NHTSA’s order requires covered entities to report crashes that occur on public roads in the United States based on the following:

• Within one day of learning of a crash, companies must report crashes involving a Level 2 advanced driver assistance systems or Levels 3-5 automated driving system-equipped vehicle that also involve a hospital-treated injury, a fatality, a vehicle tow-away, an air bag deployment, or a vulnerable road user, such as a pedestrian or bicyclist. An updated report is due 10 days after learning of the crash.
• Every month, companies must report all other crashes involving an automated driving system-equipped vehicle that involve an injury or property damage.
• Reports must be updated monthly with new or additional information.
• Reports must be submitted for any reportable crash, about which a company receives notice, beginning 10 days after the company is served with the order.
• Reports must be submitted to NHTSA electronically using a form that requires important information regarding the crash. NHTSA will use this information to identify crashes for follow-up.

The order requires vehicle and equipment (including software) manufacturers of Level 2 advanced driver assistance system or Levels 3-5 automated driving system and vehicles and operators of automated driving system-equipped vehicles to report crashes where the Level 2 advanced driver assistance systems or Level 3-5 automated driving system was engaged during or immediately before the crash.

Numerous autonomous vehicle companies are targeted in the order, including Bendix, Daimler Trucks, Embark, Kodiak, Locomation, Navistar, Paccar, Pronto, TuSimple, Volvo Trucks and Waymo.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has previously been critical of the lack of transparency involving automated vehicles.

“The continued reliance on voluntary safety reporting from AV manufacturers will not effectively build trust, acceptance, and confidence in the testing and deployment of these vehicles,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer wrote in comments to the U.S. Department of Transportation in March. LL