Autonomous cars: US authorities allow vehicles without steering wheels and pedals
Created: 07/17/2022, 3:00 p.m
By: Marcus Efler
The American authority NHTSA is clearing the way for autonomous cars: steering wheel and pedals may be omitted in the future.
The fully autonomous car is still more of a technical vision than reality: Tesla has a lot of trouble with its "autopilot", the corresponding assistance system from Mercedes-Benz has so far only worked as a traffic jam pilot, and so-called robotaxis are always behaving abnormally or even cause accidents.
Autonomous cars: US authorities allow vehicles without steering wheels and pedals
However, a long-feared problem seems to have just been resolved: that politicians could slow down progress with overly rigid rules.
Only recently did the UN recommend allowing autonomous driving on the freeway at speeds of up to 130 km/h.
The American road traffic authority NHTSA is now going one step further: In the future, cars that are designed entirely for autonomous driving will no longer necessarily need pedals or a steering wheel (or a yoke, à la Tesla).
Autonomous cars (here the VW OnePod study) will be allowed to drive in the USA without a steering wheel and pedals.
(Iconic image) © Volkswagen
Autonomous cars: Children are not allowed in the former driver's seat
"For vehicles that are only operated using automatic driving systems, manual controls are logically unnecessary," says the US authority.
This could lead to completely new concepts for robotic taxis without safety drivers, and futuristic concepts such as the Audi Urbansphere are also moving closer to reality.
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However, the authority also imposes some safety requirements on manufacturers who want to implement this relaxation in the future.
For example, a camera has to monitor who is sitting in the previous driver's seat on the left as a passenger.
For children, since they are particularly at risk in the event of an accident, it is taboo.
"When the driver transitions from a human to a machine system," NHTSA explained, "the need to protect people must be built in right from the start."
This is guaranteed with the current regulations.