NHTSA Automated Vehicle (AV) Framework

Summary

On April 24, 2025, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced NHTSA's Automated Vehicle Framework, built on three principles: prioritise the safety of ongoing AV operations on public roads, remove unnecessary regulatory barriers, and enable commercial deployment. NHTSA kept its Standing General Order on crash reporting for vehicles with advanced driver-assistance and automated driving systems but said it would streamline the reporting. It expanded the Automated Vehicle Exemption Program, previously limited to imported vehicles, to domestically produced vehicles, and began work toward modernising the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

Key dates

1. April 24, 2025 (announcement)Takes effect
2. April 24, 2025Issued
3. October 16, 2026Checked against sources
4. October 21, 2026Checked against sources

Developments are added when the record is reviewed. Next review: January 15, 2027.

Evidence

Each passage is quoted from its source. The quoted passages are re-checked against the live pages every month.

1. NHTSA is maintaining its Standing General Order on Crash Reporting for vehicles equipped with certain advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving systems (ADS).

   Supports: Crash reporting maintained

   the agency will streamline the reporting to sharpen the focus on critical safety information while removing unnecessary and duplicative requirements

   Supports: Reporting streamlined

   NHTSA is expanding the Automated Vehicle Exemption Program (AVEP) to now include domestically produced vehicles.

   Supports: AVEP expansion

   Thursday, April 24, 2025

   Supports: Date

   Trump's Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy Unveils New Automated Vehicle Framework as Part of Innovation Agenda U.S. Department of Transportation Primary source