Governance and control

US updates safety standards for vehicles without manual controls

NHTSA finalized occupant-protection standards allowing fully automated vehicles without steering wheels or conventional manual controls to comply with federal crash requirements.

CURRENT ASSESSMENT · REVISION 1
TOWARD DOOM45confidence 96/100

Why it moved the index

A binding federal rule removed a concrete regulatory obstacle to purpose-built vehicles with no human driving controls, materially enabling consequential physical autonomy. Existing crash and occupant-protection requirements remained in force.

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Assessment history

  1. R1
    Toward 45 · confidence 96

    New March 2022 binding autonomous-vehicle standards change distinct from any individual vehicle launch.

    12 Aug 2026