Overview
- NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said in a July 8 letter the agency has found a “clear pattern” of driverless vehicles interfering with law enforcement, firefighters and paramedics.
- The agency demanded developers present concrete solutions by the end of the month and said it will hold industry meetings to review proposals and press for fixes.
- Documented problems include AVs driving into active emergency scenes, blocking ambulances and fire trucks, and failing to respond to flashing lights, flares, smoke, traffic cones and other cues.
- Specific incident probes remain active with NHTSA and the NTSB investigating collisions and obstruction reports, and media reporting has repeatedly tied multiple episodes to robotaxi fleets such as Waymo though the letter did not name companies.
- NHTSA is also advancing updates to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards that could change design and certification for driverless vehicles and create new enforcement paths if operators fail to fix the safety gaps.