NHTSA to consider GM’s petition for autonomous vehicles with no steering wheels

General Motors Company had filed a petition to the U.S National High Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in 2018 to allow the car manufacturer to test a few of its latest developed self-driving vehicles on the roads. The vehicles are reported to lack steering wheels and have no human manageable controls. As per the announcement on Friday, discussion over the matter is likely to continue between GM and NHTSA in the upcoming week.

NHTSA Administrator Says A Decision Is Soon To Be Announced

The acting administrator of NHTSA, James Owens, responded with a comment that the agency plans on finalizing its decision on GM’s petition in the near future. Owens further added that the agency would like to begin testing with a small number of low-speed, self-driving vehicles without human passengers.

According to NHTSA, automation can potentially revolutionize transport via land, air, or water. The agency also stated, however, that excessive testing is required to address the safety challenges before such vehicles can be certified for public use.

According to the report, U.S Transportation Secretary, Elaine Chao, and GM CEO, Mary Barra, had a meeting last week that progressed the discussion further. While high-level talks have already begun, sources inform that technicalities regarding the GM’s petition are yet to be addressed. NHTSA and GM Motors representatives have expressed comfort towards the time being taken to decide on the petition as both sides highlight public safety as the top-most priority.

In a previous announcement at the start of the year, GM had expressed confidence in getting the approval for its driver-less unit, Cruise, by the end of 2019. As of July, however, the company announced a delay in commercial deployment of the auto-driving vehicles as it saw the need for further safety tests before a new date of the launch could be declared.

Google Launched Its Waymo Unit In Arizona In 2019

Google had launched its Waymo unit in Arizona earlier in 2019 that offered autonomous rides without a human driver. Such vehicles came with steering wheels and also enabled the employees to watch the live camera feed from the ride. GM’s petition, however, marks the first one that requires the NHTSA to consider an autonomous vehicle with no steering wheel and controls that are entirely under the command of a computer, that also has the authority to make all decisions as well.

General Motors has had an upbeat last week in the stock market. Share prices were reported at $35.89 on Monday with the stock having closed the week at $37.25 on Friday.