During the discussions of autonomous vehicle (AV) legislation in the last Congress, several members of Congress raised concerns about who would be responsible for assuring that these vehicles would be maintained and safe for America’s roads. Currently, only 15 states have vehicle safety inspection programs. With the 115th Congress’ failure to move AV legislation, the issue has arisen again.
U.S. House and Senate policymakers asked that organizations interested in new vehicle technologies submit comments about what AV legislation should include. Several groups, in letters to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee highlighted the importance of vehicle safety including a major vehicle technology company noting that “Safety is our first priority…” The Automotive Service Association emphasized the importance of vehicle safety inspection in a letter to the committees:
“As vehicles become increasingly sophisticated and the owner less attached and knowledgeable about their vehicle, ASA believes that vehicle safety inspection and maintenance will be less of a priority. Autonomous vehicles (AV) raise numerous issues related to vehicle safety including the day-to-day responsibility for monitoring important safety items on the vehicle, i.e. tires, lights, brakes, condition of the windshield, etc. States that allow AVs on their roads should also be required to have a state periodic motor vehicle safety inspection program in place.”
In a recent study, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) noted three important trends for the automotive industry:
- Technological
- Social
- Regulatory
Technological includes autonomous driving, electrification, connectivity. Social includes urbanization, new way of working and sharing. Finally, the regulatory trend would involve city regulation and emissions standards. These trends should impact how federal, state and local policymakers view vehicle safety.
There are numerous questions that should be raised as to long-term vehicle safety. With increased ride-sharing, who’s responsible for the maintenance and safety inspection of the vehicle? The majority of jurisdictions have no inspection or maintenance requirement. For anyone traveling around the country, ride share vehicles vary greatly in their condition for clients. What assurance will web based consumer comments or less stars provide that the vehicle will be repaired as to lights, a broken windshield or tires in poor condition?
The lack of federal AV legislation, and nothing set to move in the foreseeable future, puts much responsibility on the states and communities. Are cities equipped to assure ride share vehicle safety? States have a modest history of support for vehicle safety inspection unless it’s tied to a significant funding source, i.e. highway funds. The National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA) has already noted the importance of vehicle safety inspection in various initiatives.
In NHTSA’s “Automated Driving Systems 2.0,” federal regulators offered guidance to state and local jurisdictions for AVs.
“Post-Crash ADS Behavior Entities engaging in testing or deployment should consider methods of returning ADSs to a safe state immediately after being involved in a crash… Additionally, entities are encouraged to have documentation available that facilitates the maintenance and repair of ADSs before they can be put back in service. Such documentation would likely identify the equipment and the processes necessary to ensure safe operation of the ADSs after repairs.”
NHTSA’s “Automated Vehicles 3.0” continued its boundaries of federal and state responsibilities. We should note that NHTSA has not completely abandoned vehicle safety inspection. NHTSA publishes the “Uniform Guidelines for State Highway Safety Programs.” NHTSA highlights that “Each state should have a program for periodic inspection of all registered vehicles to reduce the number of vehicles with existing or potential conditions that may contribute to crashes or increase the severity of crashes that do occur, and should require the owner to correct such conditions.” NHTSA is describing what we have today in only 15 state vehicle inspection programs. As vehicle ownership continues to shift to ride share and other programs, more responsibility will likely fall on local and state governments for vehicle safety post-manufacture. Any federal legislation that ignores this important responsibility after a vehicle leaves the dealer showroom is not fulfilling its duty to protect the motoring public.
Consumers and repairers should encourage federal policymakers to include requirements for state vehicle safety inspection programs as part of any new AV legislation.
