The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a letter calling on developers of automated driving systems (ADS) to make interactions with first responders a top safety priority. The agency said autonomous vehicles must reliably recognize and respond to emergency vehicles and accident scenes, warning that failures in these situations are not rare “edge cases” but significant safety deficiencies.
In a related announcement, NHTSA said it has documented multiple cases of driverless vehicles entering active emergency scenes, blocking ambulances and firefighters, or failing to respond to flashing lights, flares, smoke, fire, and traffic cones. The agency said these incidents pose a danger to the public and emphasized that safe interaction with first responders is essential to earning public trust while advancing autonomous vehicle technology. NHTSA will meet with AV developers to review their solutions and said it will continue using its enforcement authority if significant safety concerns are not addressed.
