WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced that it issued an exemption for Zoox driverless vehicles to operate on U.S. roads.
This is the first-ever exemption for American-built vehicles under the agency's newly expanded Automated Vehicle Exemption Program.
In April, NHTSA expanded its Automated Vehicle Exemption Program to include domestically produced vehicles as part of its AV Framework.?
Previously only foreign AVs were eligible for exemption, disadvantaging American innovators. The expanded AVEP program is successfully promoting U.S. technology and safety through simpler, faster exemption procedures that allow companies to operate noncompliant vehicles on U.S. roads.
'This is a win-win for safety and innovation. Under the leadership of President Trump, U.S. companies like Zoox have a process to create and test their latest technologies.?America - not China - can and will drive the future of self-driving cars forward,' U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said. ?
As a condition of the exemption, Zoox will remove or cover all statements that its purpose-built vehicles comply with applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. All of the purpose-built vehicles manufactured by Zoox and operating on public roads in the United States are now covered by this exemption.?NHTSA is also concurrently closing its investigation into Zoox's self-certification of its purpose-built AVs.
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