Deep Dive Episode 27 – Self-Driving Vehicles: Addressing the Challenges of Groundbreaking Innovation

Self-driving vehicles may be on American roads sooner than many think. As a result, the Department of Transportation and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have been increasingly focused on examining the potential regulatory barriers calling for comments on various federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS) that need to be changed and updates to the existing policy guidance on self-driving vehicles. Accommodating the deployment of self-driving vehicles will necessitate addressing outdated FMVSS, current definitions of “driver” or “operator,” cybersecurity and privacy concerns, and a regulatory landscape where various authorities are divided between states and the federal government.