WASHINGTON, D.C – One of the main policies said to be on the table for the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump and his transition team in 2025 is to relax federal regulations overseeing fully autonomous, self-driving vehicles in an effort to get more of them on the nation’s roadways.
According to Bloomberg, the Trump Admin intends to create a federal agency that will oversee the self-driving vehicle industry, and bipartisan legislation is reportedly already in the works in order to establish new laws that will regulate the production and use of autonomous vehicles. Bloomberg’s sources indicate that these laws will cut through existing red tape and reduce the scope of existing limits, such the number of driverless vehicles allowed on roadways.
The current limit established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on the number of autonomous vehicles that individual manufacturers can deploy is 2,500 annually; previously, both the previous Trump Admin and the current Biden Admin unsuccessfully attempted to have that number revised upwards to 100,000 per year.
The exact details about these new policies that President-elect Trump plans to implement are not currently known; in addition, the incoming administration has yet to nominate someone to head up the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), although it is rumored that Trump has former Uber executive Emil Michael in mind for the position.
It also should be noted that Elon Musk was a strong supporter on the campaign trail for Trump and is currently a close adviser of his; loosening of federal regulations as they pertain to driverless vehicles would benefit him greatly, as the Tesla CEO recently unveiled plans for a self-driving taxi fleet.
It also bears mentioning that despite whatever federal regulations on autonomous vehicles that the Trump Admin may or may not implement, there are also state-level regulations currently in-place – with additional ones to be introduced in the future – that would oversee the industry as well.
Christopher Boyle is an investigative journalist, videographer, reporter and writer for SEARCHEN NETWORKS® as well as other independent news and media organizations in the United States. Christopher works on a wide variety of topics and fields, has been featured in print and online in a variety of publications, from local to national, and helps keep a keen-eye on what’s happening in the automotive world for Auto Buyers Market.