The Department of Transportation’s 2026 Regulatory Agenda: Acceleration of Autonomous Vehicle Rulemaking and Future Action on Fuel Economy
On July 7, 2026, the Department of Transportation released its 2026 unified rulemaking agenda. Many of the items on it relate to autonomous driving systems. They signal that the Trump Administration is accelerating its efforts to promote the development and deployment of autonomous technologies, while — with notable exceptions, particularly fuel economy — putting other regulatory efforts on the back burner. (more…)
NHTSA Proposes Amending Federal Brake Standards for Autonomous Vehicles
On June 26, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published another proposed rulemaking designed to promote the deployment of autonomous vehicles on public roads. The proposal would amend Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 135, “Light vehicle brake systems,” by removing requirements for hand- and foot-operated brake controls in vehicles that operate without a human driver, while retaining stopping distance performance requirements. This rulemaking represents a meaningful—if still incremental—step in modernizing the federal regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles, particularly those that are manufactured without the standard equipment designed for human drivers.
NHTSA Issues the First Defect Recall Order in Decades
On April 29, 2026, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) took a rare step: It issued a final decision ordering a recall of vehicle equipment—in this case, air bag inflators manufactured in China that allegedly caused numerous deaths and serious injuries by exploding during a crash. This was the agency’s first recall order in decades and illustrates the unusual situation in which the agency found itself.
NHTSA Proposes Amending Federal Crash Avoidance Standards for Autonomous Vehicles
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.