July 1, 2021—The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a general order Tuesday requiring OEMs to report crashes in all vehicles equipped with SAE Level 2 ADAS or Levels 3-5 ADS, the organization announced in a press release. 

Through the order, OEMs are required to report all crashes that involve "a hospital-treated injury, a fatality, a vehicle tow-away, an air bag deployment, or a vulnerable road user such as a pedestrian or bicyclist," within one day of learning about the incident. Updated reports are due 10 days after. NHTSA Acting Administrator Steven Cliff said in a release the data will help identify any potential safety issues with new technology as its being rolled out. 

“NHTSA’s core mission is safety. By mandating crash reporting, the agency will have access to critical data that will help quickly identify safety issues that could emerge in these automated systems,” Cliff said.“In fact, gathering data will help instill public confidence that the federal government is closely overseeing the safety of automated vehicles.”

The mandate also requires OEMs to submit a monthly report of all other incidents that involve ADS-equipped vehicles that result in injury or property damage but are not meet the severity of the first criteria.