By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. regulators have eliminated the requirement for automakers to provide fully-autonomous vehicles with manual steering controls in order to comply with crash standards.

Because safety standards that were established many decades ago assume humans are in control, tech firms and automakers face significant challenges when deploying autonomous driving systems (ADS).

General Motors Co. (NYSE 🙂 and Cruise, its self-driving technology division petitioned U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for (NHTSA) permission to create and deploy a self driving vehicle with no human control like brake pedals or steering wheels.

Revisions to the regulations state that cars will have “always have a driver’s seat, a steering steering wheel and accompanying column or only one outboard passenger sitting position.”

According to the agency, manual driving controls for vehicles that are designed solely for ADS operation are not necessary.

These new regulations, first introduced in March 2020 by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Administration, require that automated vehicles provide the same level of protection for occupants as humans-driven vehicles.

Steven Cliff, NHTSA Deputy Administrator said that the driver’s role in ADS-equipped cars changes to one of a human and the safety needs must remain the same.

NHTSA rules say children shouldn’t be in what was once called the “driver” position. This is because the seat is not designed to provide protection for children during a crash. However, if children are in this position the car won’t have to stop moving immediately.

NHTSA indicated that current regulations allow automated vehicles to be used so long as the vehicle has manual driving controls. As it considers other safety standards to improve, however, some manufacturers will still need to apply to NHTSA for exemptions to enable them to sell ADS-equipped vehicles.