Tesla Cybercab with no steering wheel testing in Austin, Texas. Image courtesy of Tesla (screenshot of video).
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Tesla has been sending Cybercabs around the United States for some early testing and “Full Self Driving” calibrating, and people have noticed they have steering wheels and such, like normal cars. But they are not supposed to have steering wheels, pedals, and stalks. Some people thought, hey, maybe Tesla is going to make the car with steering wheels and pedals after all.
Nope. The issue is that Tesla couldn’t legally send them out without some of these things. However, new rules from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) under the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) are set to eliminate the need for brake pedals in autonomous vehicles. (Also, there are a limited number of such vehicles a company like Tesla can deploy even today.)
“We are at the cusp of the greatest technological revolution in vehicle technology since the innovation of the Model T,” noted NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison. “If we want America to lead the way, we have to reimagine our regulatory framework. That’s why under Secretary Sean Duffy’s AV Framework, NHTSA is tearing down pointless barriers to innovative designs while strengthening the fundamental safety requirements that matter and holding AV developers accountable for safe performance.”
