The Trump transition team is recommending that the incoming administration drop a car-crash reporting requirement opposed by Tesla, a move that could cripple the government’s ability to investigate and regulate the safety of vehicles with automated-driving systems. The requirement, which was established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), requires automakers to report crashes if advanced driver-assistance or autonomous-driving technologies were engaged within 30 seconds of impact.
The recommendation is seen as a major boon to Tesla, which has reported over 1,500 crashes to NHTSA, more than any other company. Tesla’s “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving” systems have been involved in several high-profile accidents, including a 2023 fatal crash in Virginia and a California wreck that same year in which a Tesla hit a firetruck, killing the driver and injuring four firefighters.
The Trump transition team has criticized the crash-reporting requirement, calling it a mandate for “excessive” data collection. However, NHTSA has defended the requirement, saying that the data is crucial to evaluating the safety of emerging automated-driving technologies. Two former NHTSA employees have also spoken out against the proposed changes, saying that the crash-reporting requirements are pivotal to agency investigations into Tesla’s driver-assistance features and have led to 2023 recalls.
Under the current requirement, automakers must report any crashes in which their advanced driver-assistance or autonomous-driving technologies were engaged within 30 seconds of impact. Without this requirement, it could be more difficult for NHTSA to detect patterns of safety problems and take action to address them.
The Trump transition team’s recommendations also call for the administration to “liberalize” autonomous-vehicle regulation and to enact “basic regulations to enable development” of the industry. This could spell big changes for companies like Tesla, which has been at the forefront of autonomous vehicle development. The company’s CEO, Elon Musk, has publicly called for a federal approval process for autonomous vehicles and has indicated that he plans to use his position as a government-efficiency czar to push for regulatory changes.