The US Department of Transportation is moving to scrap requirements for brake pedals in driverless vehicles, a step that could clear the way for companies such as Tesla Inc. and Waymo to put more robotaxis on American roads.
The DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plans to propose updates to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards that would remove the mandate for manual brake pedals in vehicles designed to operate exclusively without a human driver, according to a notice seen by Bloomberg News.
The change, expected to be introduced as soon as Thursday, would not apply to other types of automobiles, which would still have to have brake pedals.
The new rule, part of an ongoing effort by the Trump administration to modernize standards for driverless cars, could ease the path for purpose-built autonomous vehicles including Tesla’s Cybercab, a two-seat electric car that lacks a steering wheel and foot pedals. The robotaxi market includes a number of big-name players, including Amazon.com Inc.’s Zoox and Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo, the biggest operator of paid robotaxi rides in the US.
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Current regulations pose hurdles for companies that want to field autonomous vehicles designed without certain controls. Even so, it remains unclear whether regulators plan to adjust rules related to steering wheels or other equipment.
The requirements have in the past been a hurdle for auto manufacturers. They include General Motors Co., which ended work on its Origin AV in 2024 due in part to regulatory uncertainty around the vehicle’s lack of certain manual controls.
Yet while the DOT can set or remove specific rules through NHTSA that could ease approval for driverless vehicles, wider adoption is still limited by technological factors, investment costs and the readiness of individual passengers.
Rethinking equipment
NHTSA’s new proposal is part of a broader effort by the agency to remove that it says are unnecessary barriers hindering autonomous vehicles. Further changes are expected to follow.
Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, one of President Donald Trump’s biggest donors, has advocated for federal policy changes that would facilitate broad commercial deployment of self-driving vehicles, including calling for a federal framework for driverless cars. The Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, which represents companies including Waymo and Zoox, has similarly urged lawmakers to enact a federal policy framework.
Last year, Musk lobbied lawmakers in Washington to help clear a path for autonomous vehicles, and weighed in on revisions to a bill that would have help set a basic regulatory framework.
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Tesla launched its long-awaited robotaxi network last year in Austin with a limited number of Model Y SUVs. It has since slowly expanded its small fleet to Dallas and Houston. The company also operates a non-autonomous rideshare network in California’s San Francisco Bay Area.
The proposed rule on brake pedals won’t affect other braking performance requirements such as strict stopping distance standards, the NHTSA document said. Existing standard requirements will also not change for automated driving system-equipped vehicles with manual driving controls.
