US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced on Thursday that the Trump Administration is streamlining the process for automakers to introduce self-driving cars in the country.
According to the Secretary, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will be updating requirements in the Automated Vehicle Framework.
“America must lead the way in transportation innovation. If we don’t, our adversaries will fill the void,” the Secretary said, adding that “the rules of the road need to be updated to fit the realities of the 21st century.”
“Our changes will eliminate redundant requirements and bring us closer to a single national standard that spurs innovation and prioritizes safety,” Duffy stated.
NHTSA’s Chief Counsel Peter Simshauser said that the removal of the requirements will “reduce costs and enhance safety.”
The auto safety regulator is proposing three rulemakings to amend the FMVSS to address vehicles equipped with automated driving systems (ADS) that do not have manual controls.
Several US companies are currently exploring automated vehicles in the country, including Tesla, Google’s Waymo and Nuro, which is partnering with Lucid Motors and Uber.
Alphabet-backed Waymo launched its driverless ride-hailing service in late 2020 and has completed over 10 million trips since then.
Waymo currently offers ride-hailing services in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, in California, and in Phoenix, Arizona.
It has also integrated its service into Uber’s app in Austin earlier this year and has begun pilot rides in Atlanta, with launches planned in Miami and Washington, D.C. next year.
Earlier this year, Waymo‘s co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana had commented on Tesla’s camera-only approach with its robotaxi, stating that “there’s no reason to eliminate aspects that make it safe.”
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi echoed this view last month, stating that LiDAR technology is “crucial for safety” in autonomous vehicles, which must perform “many times better than humans.”
The company’s chief executive Elon Musk then reiterated his opposition to LiDAR sensors, saying that Tesla’s camera-only approach avoids conflicts that he argues arise when multiple sensors are combined.
The EV maker’s Robotaxi service was launched in late June, in Austin. The geofenced area has been expanded several times over the past two months, as the company prepares expansion towards other US cities.
Tesla introduced the ride-hailing service in the Bay Area last month, however, and unlike the Austin vehicles, robotaxis in San Francisco include a safety driver behind the wheel.
After some people compared the service to regular ride-hailing with a human driver using Tesla‘s Full Self-Driving (FSD), Elon Musk has said on Thursday that the safety driver will likely be removed by year-end.
“The safety driver is only needed for the first few months to be extra safe,” he wrote on X. “There should be no safety driver by the end of the year.”
The public launch is planned for later this month, with Tesla having launched the Robotaxi app on Apple Store already.
In July, EV maker Lucid Motors announced it has entered a partnership with Nuro and Uber to develop what it called a “next-generation premium global robotaxi program.”
The robotaxi will be built at Lucid‘s plant in Arizona, operate exclusively on Uber’s ride-hailing platform, and integrate Nuro’s software after leaving the Lucid assembly line.
The debut is expected in “a major U.S. city” in late 2026, with Uber targeting deployment of 20,000 or more Lucid vehicles equipped with Nuro’s Level 4 autonomous technology over six years.
According to the NHTSA’s website, the Automated Vehicle Framework is designed to “prevent a harmful patchwork of state laws and regulations,” by prioritizing safety of ongoing operations on public roads, “removing unnecessary regulatory barriers” and “enabling commercial deployment of AVs to enhance safety and mobility for the American public.”
