Automakers asked NHTSA for 15 more days on its driverless-vehicle lighting rule

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to extend by 15 days, to Thursday December 10, the comment period on its proposed modernization of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 to accommodate vehicles equipped with automated driving systems. The letter, addressed to Administrator Jonathan Morrison and signed by Lauren A. Collins, the Alliance’s senior director for safety policy, is dated October 26 and entered the public docket on October 27.

The proposed rule was published on October 26 with a 30-day comment period closing November 25. The Alliance wrote that the period “is insufficient given the technical and legal complexity of the proposed lighting requirements, their application to ADS-specific designs, and their potential effects on both ADS-equipped and traditional vehicles.” It said stakeholders need more time to evaluate safety implications, unintended consequences, effects across vehicle platforms and development programs, and potential changes to existing compliance strategies, and that a 15-day extension would strengthen the administrative record without materially delaying the final rule. The request asks for a response as soon as possible.

The letter is a scheduling request and does not state the Alliance’s position on the rule’s content. The Alliance describes itself as representing vehicle manufacturers, equipment suppliers, battery producers, semiconductor makers, technology companies and automated-vehicle developers. Copies went to NHTSA’s Office of the Chief Counsel, Office of Automation Safety and Office of Crash Avoidance.

A separate submission posted to the docket the same day, from CyberCabbie Fleet Operations LLC, said it supports the proposed modernization and attached recommendations on lighting safety, automated controls, cyan identification lights, emergency responders and multistate fleet operations. NHTSA had not responded to the extension request in the Federal Register or on its own site as of October 28.