NHTSA Seeks OMB Nod to Keep Tracking Self-Driving Safety Data
Published Date: 2/20/2025
Notice
Summary
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is asking for approval to keep collecting info about automated driving systems to help make roads safer. This affects car makers, tech developers, and safety researchers who share data about self-driving tech. Comments on this plan are open until March 24, 2025, and no extra costs or changes to the process are expected.
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 1 costs, 1 mixed.
600‑Hour VSSA Preparation Burden
If your company develops, tests, or deploys automated driving systems (ADS), preparing a Voluntary Safety Self‑Assessment (VSSA) is estimated to take about 600 hours per entity and is expected once per respondent. NHTSA estimates the hourly labor cost at $117.66, which yields about $70,596 in labor cost per respondent and a total annual burden of 2,400 hours and $282,384 across four respondents.
Estimated Reporting Burden Reduced
This revision reports a reduction of 9,600 annual burden hours and a decrease in annual labor costs of $885,936 compared to the prior estimate. NHTSA now estimates four respondents per year (once each) with a three‑year approval request and uses a three‑year average of four VSSAs per year for the projection.
VSSA Submission Stays Voluntary
NHTSA is extending its existing voluntary information collection for the ADS 2.0 VSSA; the agency is not requiring submission and is not changing the VSSA content or format. NHTSA declined to convert the VSSA into a mandatory requirement in this renewal and plans no changes to the current voluntary VSSA structure.
States May Use VSSAs in Permitting
State stakeholders may use information in VSSAs to assess safety, inform permitting decisions for testing and deployment of ADS, communicate with law enforcement and first responders, and educate the public. NHTSA states that some States seeking to establish application and permitting processes may consider VSSA content as part of the permit issuance process.
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Key Dates
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