On March 16, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published two proposed rulemakings designed to ease the path for manufacturing autonomous vehicles and deploying them on public roads. Both proposals would amend existing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) by removing requirements for certain safety equipment that may be unnecessary in vehicles without a human driver. These rulemakings represent an incremental step, not a game changer, in paving the way for a driverless future.

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