[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 73 (Friday, April 15, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22365-22367]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-08708]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2016-0036]


Guidelines for the Safe Deployment and Operation of Automated 
Vehicle Safety Technologies

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Announcement of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: NHTSA is announcing a second public meeting to seek input on 
planned guidelines for the safe deployment and operation of automated 
vehicles. NHTSA held its first public meeting on this topic on April 8, 
2016, in Washington, DC. The intent of the operational guidelines is to 
encourage innovative and safe deployment of automated vehicle 
technologies. At this meeting, NHTSA is seeking public input on those 
aspects of automated vehicle (AV) systems that would benefit from 
operational guidelines. For example, of high importance to the Agency 
is information on the roadway scenarios and operational environments 
highly automated vehicles will need to address and the associated 
design and evaluation processes and methods needed to ensure that AV 
systems can detect and appropriately react to these scenarios such that 
a high level of safety is assured when these systems are deployed on US 
roadways.
    Also of interest to the Agency is input on aspects of automated 
vehicle technology that may not be suitable or ready for guidelines. 
For these areas, information would be useful on alternative approaches 
to assure safety.

DATES: NHTSA will hold the public meeting on April 27, 2016, in 
Stanford, CA. The meeting will start at 9:00 a.m. and continue until 
4:00 p.m., local time. Check-in will begin at 8 a.m.
    Location: The meeting will be held at the CARS Facility at Stanford 
University, 473 Oak Rd, Stanford, CA 94305. This facility is accessible 
to individuals with disabilities. The meeting will also be webcast 
live, and a link to the actual webcast will be available through http://www.nhtsa.gov/Research/Crash+Avoidance/Automated+Vehicles.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions about the public 
meeting, please contact us at [email protected].
    Registration is necessary for all attendees. Attendees should 
register at

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http://goo.gl/forms/T67E0B20Ie by April 22, 2016. Please provide name 
and affiliation, indicate if you wish to offer technical remarks, and 
please indicate whether you require accommodations such as a sign 
language interpreter. Space is limited, so advanced registration is 
highly encouraged.
    Although attendees will be given the opportunity to offer technical 
remarks, there will not be time for attendees to make audio-visual 
presentations during the meeting. Note: We may not be able to 
accommodate all attendees who wish to make oral remarks. Should it be 
necessary to cancel the meeting due to inclement weather or other 
emergency, NHTSA will take available measures to notify registered 
participants.
    NHTSA will conduct the public meeting informally, and technical 
rules of evidence will not apply. We will arrange for a written 
transcript of the meeting and keep the official record open for 30 days 
after the meeting to allow submission of supplemental information. You 
may make arrangements for copies of the transcript directly with the 
court reporter, and the transcript will also be posted in the docket 
when it becomes available.
    Written Comments: Written statements and supporting information 
submitted during the comment period will be considered with the same 
weight as oral comments and supporting information presented at the 
public meeting. Please submit all written comments no later than May 9, 
2016, by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West 
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001, between 
9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.
     Fax: 202-366-1767.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number. Note that all comments received will be posted without 
change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information provided. Please see the Privacy Act discussion below.
    Docket: For access to the docket go to http://www.regulations.gov 
at any time or to 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Ground 
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays. Telephone: 202-366-
9826.
    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 
comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78), or you may visit 
http://www.regulations.gov/privacy.html.
    Confidential Business Information: If you wish to submit any 
information under a claim of confidentiality, you should submit three 
copies of your complete submission, including the information you claim 
to be confidential business information to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at 
the address given under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. In addition, 
you should submit two copies, from which you have deleted the claimed 
confidential business information, to Docket Management at the address 
given above. When you send a comment containing information claimed to 
be confidential business information, you should submit a cover letter 
setting forth the information specified in our confidential business 
information regulation (49 CFR part 512).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    DOT recently announced a series of actions to remove potential 
roadblocks to the integration of innovative automotive technology. As 
part of this effort, the Department announced several milestones for 
2016, including development of guidance on the safe deployment and 
operation of automated vehicles.

Draft Agenda (In Local Time)

08:00-09:00--Arrival/Check-In
09:00-12:00--Morning Public Meeting Session
12:00-13:00--Lunch Break
13:00-16:00--Afternoon Public Meeting Session
16:00--Adjourn

Public Meeting Topics

    NHTSA is seeking input on the following topics during the morning 
and afternoon sessions of the meeting.
    1. Evaluation and testing of scenarios the AV system should detect 
and correctly operate in: Within the AV system's operating envelope, 
consider how to identify the scenarios that could be encountered by the 
AV system (e.g., behavioral competencies/normal driving, pre-crash 
scenarios, etc.) and what design and evaluation (testing) processes and 
methods are needed to ensure that the vehicle can detect and 
appropriately react to these scenarios. Consider whether third party 
testing is appropriate for validating test results.
    2. Detection and communication of operational boundaries: If there 
are limitations on where AV technology will operate--what methods 
should the AV technology use to sense when it is reaching the 
operational domain limit and how should that be communicated to the 
driver?
    3. Environmental operation and sensing: Consider what environmental 
conditions AV systems will likely operate in. For environmental 
conditions in which AV systems are not designed to operate, discuss 
methods used to detect these conditions.
    4. Driver transitioning to/from AV operating mode: For AV systems 
that rely on transferring vehicle operation back to the driver, discuss 
approaches to (a) ensuring safe transitioning back to a fully capable 
non-impaired driver (e.g., geo-fencing, adverse weather) and (b) how 
non-optimal driver behavior (e.g., decision errors, erratic behavior, 
driver impairment) will be addressed by the AV system.
    5. AV for persons with disabilities: Consider the unique needs of 
people with different types of disabilities in the design, development, 
and policy setting for self-driving cars and related automation.
    6. Data: Consider data recording capabilities of system(s) 
necessary to monitor the correct operation of the AV system, and what 
are appropriate triggers (crash, near crash, etc.) to determine system 
operational status or possible malfunction of the system. Also consider 
how recorded data could be accessed and by whom. During the testing 
phase, consider what data should be made public for further analysis 
and understanding.
    7. Crash avoidance capability: Consider the capabilities of AV 
systems with respect to detecting roadway hazards (other vehicles, 
pedestrians, animals, etc.) such that common crash scenarios involving 
these hazards (control loss, crossing paths head-on, etc.) can be 
detected and either avoided or mitigated.
    8. Electronics systems safety: Consider methods and potential 
documentation that could be produced with respect to functional safety 
and cybersecurity.
    9. Non-passenger AVs: Consider differences between AVs designed for 
delivery of goods and products that are

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not intended to have a human operator or potentially even human 
passengers.
    10. Aspects of AV technology that may not be suitable or ready for 
guidelines: For these areas, information would be useful on alternative 
approaches to assure safety.
    11. Identification of industry voluntary standards, best practices, 
etc., related to automated vehicle operation.
    12. Information AVs may need to communicate to pedestrians and 
other vehicles (manual or automated) just as a driver would. Consider 
situations such as pedestrians crossing a travel lane in a parking lot 
and how this communication should be accomplished.
    13. Conditions in which AVs may need to be able to identify and 
communicate to a central location or authority that a problem has 
occurred. Consider situations where passengers may be delivered to 
their destination but a medical problem or potential incapacitation 
enroute may potentially suggest considerations for vehicle capabilities 
that could handle such cases.
    14. Operation of an AV with open safety recall: Consider if 
automated vehicles should be allowed to operate in automated mode in 
cases when there is an open safety recall on that vehicle or if 
automated functions should be restrained until recall repairs are 
completed (perhaps reversion to manual driving when possible). Consider 
if AVs with open recalls should be allowed to operate on public roads 
at all, and if so, under what conditions.
    15. Other topics needed for operational guidance: Other topics that 
would be beneficial to address in an operational guidance document to 
facilitate innovation and safe deployment of these systems on public 
roadways.

    Issued in Washington, DC, under authority delegated by 49 CFR 
1.95.
Nathaniel Beuse,
Associate Administrator for Vehicle Safety Research.
[FR Doc. 2016-08708 Filed 4-14-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-59-P