The US Department of Transportation (USDOT's) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has revealed a new policy regarding the development of the automated vehicles in the region.
The policy includes plans for research on related safety issues as well as recommendations for testing, licensing, and regulation of the self-driving vehicles in the country.
NHTSA secretary Ray LaHood said the agency's top priority is to ensure that the vehicles and their occupants are safe.
"Our research covers all levels of automation, including advances like automatic braking that may save lives in the near term, while the recommendations to states help them better oversee self-driving vehicle development, which holds promising long-term safety benefits," LaHood added.
According to the policy, the vehicle automation is divided into five levels including the No-Automation or level-0, in which the driver is in complete and sole control of the primary vehicle controls including brake, steering, throttle, and motive power at all times.
The Function-specific Automation or Level-1 has one or more specific control functions that will allow the driver to regain control of the vehicle or stop faster than possible, while the Combined Function Automation or Level 2 two primary control functions designed to jointly work.
Limited Self-Driving Automation or level-3 automation allows the driver to have full control of all safety-critical functions under certain traffic or environmental conditions and rely heavily on the vehicle to monitor for changes in those conditions requiring transition back to driver control.
The Full Self-Driving Automation of the level-4 will be having all safety-critical driving functions that monitor roadway conditions for an entire trip.
