Will the Trump Team Make Roads More Dangerous?

Reuters reported last week that the Trump transition team had recommended doing away with a requirement that manufacturers of vehicles with automated driving systems or certain advanced driver assistance systems report crashes to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The order has been amended twice, most recently in April of 2023. 

That might sound like some boring regulatory stuff you don’t need to think much about, but the change could put you and others on the road at greater risk. Here’s what you need to know about why the requirement exists, why the new administration might change it, and how that might affect road safety.

What is the Automated Vehicle Crash Reporting Requirement? 

The federal National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act charges the NHTSA with reducing traffic accidents, which includes protecting the public “against unreasonable risk of accidents occurring because of the design, construction, or performance of a motor vehicle, and against unreasonable risk of death or injury in an accident.” 

While the NHTSA is a proponent of driver assistance systems as a means of potentially improving traffic safety, the technology is fairly young and untested. To ensure that the federal government received information about crashes involving vehicles with automation or advanced driver assistance promptly and could investigate any underlying safety issues, the NHTSA issued a Standing General Order on Crash Reporting in June of 2021.

Before the order was issued, receipt of this information was patchy. Some manufacturers were more inclined to report than others. When reporting did happen, it was sometimes delayed. 

Automated and Advanced Driver Assistance Features Present New Challenges

Safety regulations and ratings are nothing new, but automated vehicles and vehicles with advanced driver assistance have introduced new considerations. For example, the safety of vehicles employing this technology depends in part on the functioning of their sensors, and on how the software makes decisions. 

Examples of the danger of those failures began to emerge almost immediately. For example: 

• In 2016, a Tesla Model S operating on Autopilot crashed into a semi-trailer, killing its driver. 
• In 2018, a self-driving Uber in Arizona hit and killed a pedestrian walking a bicycle when the car’s sensors misinterpreted what the car was “seeing” and failed to brake.
• In 2019, another Tesla using Autopilot ran a red light and hit another vehicle, resulting in two fatalities.

While self-driving and driver-assistance systems continue to evolve, there are still significant issues. In 2023, Cruise RoboTaxis were involved in two significant incidents. In one case, the self-driving taxi rear-ended a bus. Later that year, another RoboTaxi ran over a pedestrian who had been struck by another vehicle and thrown into its path and dragged her more than 20 feet. 

Reporting allows the NHTSA to ensure that vehicle manufacturers are fulfilling their obligation to ensure that their vehicles are “free of defects that pose an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle     safety,” or to recall vehicles that don’t meet that standard. The investigation into the pedestrian accident and Cruise’s failure to fully and accurately report the incident resulted in a $1.5 million fine, and the California Department of Motor Vehicle revoked the company’s permit to operate vehicles without drivers.

Why Does Team Trump Want to Revoke the Reporting Requirement

Reuters also reported that Elon Musk, a major contributor to Trump’s campaign and Trump’s pick for co-head of the soon-to-be-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is against the reporting requirement. That’s no surprise, given that Tesla has reported more crashes than any other automated or advanced driver assistance vehicle manufacturer. 

Tesla has long objected to the reporting requirement, claiming that the company’s superior reporting practices create a false impression that the company’s cars are more dangerous than other similarly-equipped vehicles.

The transition team reportedly referred to the reporting requirement as “excessive.” The mandatory report is a single page document. In some circumstances, including fatalities or hospitalizations resulting from a crash on a public road, the incident must be reported within five days of the manufacturer receiving notice. In most situations, however, they have until the 15th of the following calendar month to submit reports. 

In the first nine months of 2024, there were a total of 840 reports across all vehicle manufacturers.

What Happens if the Reporting Requirement is Revoked? 

The reporting requirement allows the NHTSA to assess the causes of traffic accidents involving automated and advanced driver assistance vehicles and determine whether those vehicles are safe to continue operating on public roads. Without the mandated reporting, the NHTSA would have access to less information and receive it in a less timely manner, meaning vehicles with dangerous defects could stay on the road longer, causing more collisions and more injuries and/or deaths.

What to Do If You’ve Been Involved in a Crash with a Self-Driving Car

In terms of determining liability, self-driving car accidents may be somewhat different from other motor vehicle accidents. But that’s an issue for your car accident lawyer to sort out. Your first steps will be the same as after any other car crash: call the police, document the scene if you are able, seek medical attention, and then contact an experienced car accident lawyer. 

To schedule a free consultation with attorney Kevin P. Broderick, call 978-459-3085 or fill out our contact form.