The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has requested comments on its proposed “Federal Automated Vehicles Policy” which is intended to advance the development of autonomous vehicles. In its filing, the Center for Data Innovation argues that NHTSA should encourage data collection and sharing among vehicle manufacturers, transportation safety regulators, and other stakeholders, and its goal should be to create a rapid-learning transportation network that is capable of harnessing massive amounts of data to quickly generate new knowledge and enable stakeholders to make informed decisions about public safety. However, NHTSA should revise the policy to strike the counterproductive and unnecessary recommendations related to consumer privacy which are not relevant to vehicle safety, have the potential to create duplicative or conflicting rules, and which are outside the immediate expertise of the agency.
