100% self-driving cars may soon have no steering wheel at all in the US!
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Between regulatory bodies and manufacturers, debates often rage around autonomous driving. Builders want always go further, to be able to experiment, and to allow drivers to no longer pay attention to the road. On the other hand, regulators obviously ensure safety above all, and therefore restrict the use of advanced technologies. But the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), the administration in charge of road safety in the United States, has just taken a big step. Steering wheels are no longer more mandatory !
The steering wheel “logically not necessary” for an autonomous car
Until then, a car had to “compulsorily have a driver’s seat, a steering wheel and a steering column”. But the new rules, proposed in 2020 and finally accepted at the start of 2022, announce that “for a vehicle intended only to be driven only by driving assistance systems, a steering wheel is logically not necessary”. On the other hand, of course, the security level of occupants must be the same, whether the car is autonomous or not. The children we will not be able to sit on the “driver’s seat”, even if it does not have a steering wheel. Indeed, these places have not (yet) been designed to protect children. On the other hand, if a child is installed in this place despite the regulations which prohibit it, the car will not be forced to stop immediately.
In France and in Europe, we are not yet quite at this level with regard to regulations. In France, autonomous driving is now recognized in the Highway Code when establishing responsibilities. And in Germany, drivers can now drive in level 4 autonomous driving (without intervention and without having to keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel) under certain conditions. But there is no question, for the moment, of being able to produce 100% autonomous cars without steering wheel !
Source : Automotive News
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