DETROIT – Federal vehicle safety regulators have cleared the way for the production and deployment of driverless vehicles that do not include manual controls such as a steering wheel or pedals.

U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (USNHTA) issued its final rules on Thursday eliminating the requirement to have self-driving cars or vehicles with automated driving systems include these controls.

It 155-page, “first-of-its-kind” rulingCompanies can build and operate autonomous vehicles with no manual controls, provided they comply with safety regulations. Currently, self-driving cars are only used in small quantities in the United States. They typically have manual controls to provide backup drivers as well as comply with federal safety standards.

Pete Buttigieg stated in a statement that the USDOT will continue to work towards safety standards for automated driving systems and driver assistance systems through the 2020s. This new rule establishes strong safety standards for ADS-equipped cars.

New rules emphasize that driverless vehicles must provide “the same high level of occupant protection” as passenger cars. For driverless vehicles to be launched and operated on U.S. highways, they must comply with all safety regulations and federal, state, or local laws.

The rule was published in a version signed by Steven S. Cliff (NHTSA Deputy Administrator). It stated that the agency wanted to “clarify that ADS-equipped vehicle manufacturers must continue to apply the occupant protection standards even though manual steering controls have been removed from their vehicles.”

It was made one month following the March 2020 proposal. General MotorsCruise, its self-driving device Cruise requested NHTSA permission to create and deploy the Cruise Origin self-driving vehicle.

Cruise and GM previously stated that they would begin production of and deploy the vehicle. Origin in early 2023.

According to NHTSA, GM and Cruise were among the 30 companies and organizations that are allowed to test automated vehicles or self-driving cars on U.S. roads. Together with Alphabet’s Waymo they are considered to be the top-ranked companies in self driving vehicles.

Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO and founder, promised that his company would produce a vehicle without a steering column within the next two years at an Autonomy Day 2019 event.

Musk indicated that while that didn’t happen yet, he said that regulators would be happy for us to have a steering-wheel. It is possible that the steering column will be removed at 100%.

— CNBC’s Lora KolodnyContributed to the report.