The Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently updated its Federal Automated Vehicles Policy for the first time since 2013. In her Daily Journal article “Long-Awaited Federal Driverless Car Policy,” Attorney Patice Gore discusses the three parts of the policy—Vehicle Performance Guidance, Model State Policy and summary of regulatory tools.

The Vehicle Performance Guidance (VPG) outlines the Department of Transportation’s expectations for manufacturers when it comes to pre-deployment design, development and testing of autonomous vehicles (AVs). “Under the VPG, manufacturers and other entities are to develop a process for the testing, validation and collection of event, incident and crash data to determine the cause of malfunctions, failures, or degradations,” said Gore. Data pertaining to positive autonomous technology outcomes, such as avoiding collision, must also be analyzed.

Originally published in the Daily Journal.