Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released its final Enforcement Guidance Bulletin on Safety-Related Defects and Automated Safety Technologies. The Guidance makes clear that the agency’s enforcement authority and oversight of safety-related vehicle defects applies equally to emerging technologies and autonomous vehicles as it does to traditional human-operated vehicles and mechanical parts.

NHTSA's unequivocal position is that automated motor vehicle safety technologies are motor vehicle equipment regulated under the Vehicle Safety Act. Even more broadly, a vehicle's software and software updates, along with associated data, lines of code and programs also constitute motor vehicle equipment.