[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 96 (Wednesday, May 18, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31296-31297]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-11635]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[DOT Docket No. NHTSA -2016-0036]


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

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

ACTION: Extension of comment period for proposed Guidelines for the 
Safe Deployment and Operation of Automated Vehicle Safety Technologies

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SUMMARY: This document extends the comment period on planned guidelines 
for the safe deployment and operation of automated vehicles. The intent 
of the operational guidance is to encourage innovative and safe 
deployment of automated vehicle technologies. 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 meetings. The comment due date was 
May 9, 2016.
    Comments continue to come in and requests have been made to extend 
the period to provide comments on this important topic. This document 
grants that request and extends the comment due date for the planned 
Guidelines to May 31, 2016.

DATES: The due date for comments on DOT Docket No. NHTSA-2016-0036 is 
extended to May 31, 2016

ADDRESSES: Please submit all written comments no later than May 31, 
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.

[[Page 31297]]

    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.
    NHTSA held two public meetings where participants could address a 
panel on the topic of guidance on the safe deployment and operation of 
automated vehicles. The meetings were held in Washington, DC on April 
8, 2016, and in Stanford, CA on April 27, 2016.

Public Meeting Topics

    During the public meetings NHTSA sought input on the following 
topics:
    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 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. 2016-11635 Filed 5-17-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-59-P