The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has proposed new lighting rules for autonomous vehicles, suggesting cyan (blue-green) lights to indicate when a vehicle is driving itself with no human monitoring the road. The proposal would standardize where such lights are mounted, require them to stay steadily lit rather than flash, and make them visible from all sides, while also dropping requirements for manual turn signal, high-beam and hazard controls.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-25
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has proposed revisions to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 that would let automakers use cyan-colored marker lamps to indicate when a vehicle's automated driving system is in control. The lights would be optional, but NHTSA wants to standardize their color, brightness and placement so operators like Waymo, Nuro, Zoox, GM and Mercedes-Benz use a consistent signal rather than varied designs.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-23
A Tesla driver told California Highway Patrol he was asleep while using the vehicle's Full Self-Driving mode when his car sped past emergency flares, cones, and lights before slamming into a parked patrol vehicle. Two officers at the scene were seriously injured and hospitalized, according to CHP, which released video of the crash.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-16
The NHTSA has started inspecting a defect petition filed in late September that claims about 1,000 Tesla Model Y Robotaxis and Cybercabs exceeded posted speed limits in active school zones. The petition cites four incidents—one formal complaint and three social media reports—along with three video links, but reports no crashes, injuries, or deaths. NHTSA now has 120 days to review the claims and decide whether to open a formal investigation.
extremetech.com
· 2026-10-14
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Defects Investigation received a petition on September 23, 2026, requesting a probe into Tesla's roughly 1,000 Robotaxis, including the Model Y and Cybercab, for allegedly exceeding posted speed limits in active school zones while their Automated Driving System is engaged. The Cybercab is already facing a separate investigation over its lack of side mirrors, pedals, and a steering wheel, and Tesla's Full Self-Driving system is under scrutiny for other traffic violations like running red lights and driving on the wrong side of the road.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-13
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it will rewrite vehicle lighting standards to address headlight glare and accommodate newer lighting technologies like LEDs, dusk sensors and automatic high beams. The agency plans to reassess headlamp height, aim and brightness rules, which have not been updated since 1997.
news.slashdot.org
· 2026-10-11
NHTSA announced it will revise Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108, which governs vehicle lighting rules last updated 25 years ago. Administrator Jonathan Morrison said the agency will bring together up to 18 industry stakeholders, safety advocates and technical experts, appointed by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, to review LED headlights, dusk sensors, automatic high beams and adaptive driving beam systems.
cnet.com
· 2026-10-09
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is beginning a negotiated rulemaking process to revise the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards governing vehicle headlights, aiming to finalize new rules by 2026. NHTSA's Jonathan Morrison said the effort will bring together industry experts and stakeholders to modernize outdated standards and address glare concerns.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-10-08
Rivian has issued a recall affecting roughly 14 R2 SUVs after discovering that fasteners on the high-voltage battery pack were not properly tightened, a defect that can cause loss of power while driving. The company will repair or replace affected components as needed, and says it has reprogrammed the assembly-line station at its Normal, Illinois plant that caused the under-torqued fasteners. Rivian told NHTSA it knows of no accidents, injuries or fatalities tied to the issue, though some owners reported problems on Reddit and the blog RivianTrackr.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-02
Adaptive driving beams (ADBs), which selectively dim portions of a headlight beam to avoid blinding oncoming drivers while keeping the rest of the road lit, are starting to appear on US vehicles. The technology has been used for years in Europe and Asia but was blocked in the US until the NHTSA revised its lighting regulations in 2022. Automakers must now prove their systems meet NHTSA's detailed performance benchmarks, which Rivian lighting engineer Carlos Montes says are stricter and more measurable than those in other markets.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-29
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Defects Investigation has opened a probe into comma.ai's aftermarket driving-assistance hardware following five crashes involving vehicles using the devices. NHTSA says the incidents involved drivers striking stopped or slow-moving vehicles, resulting in three deaths across two crashes and 11 injuries across four of the five incidents. Comma.ai, founded by George Hotz, sells the openpilot system and hardware that owners install themselves to add advanced driver-assist capability to their cars.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-09-23
US safety regulator NHTSA has launched an investigation into Comma.ai's aftermarket openpilot driver-assistance system following five reported crashes, two of them fatal, resulting in three deaths and up to 11 injuries. The agency says the incidents involved the system failing to detect or respond to slow or stopped vehicles ahead in the same lane, and notes some crashes may have involved modified 'forked' versions of the software, including one fatal Louisiana crash running a fork called FrogPilot.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-23
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