Feb. 7, 2020—The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has approved the deployment of a self-driving vehicle that does not meet federal safety standards, per a report from The New York Times.
Silicon Valley robotics company Nuro is running a low-speed autonomous delivery vehicle, without side and rear-view mirrors and other safety provisions required of vehicles driven by humans. Other items not included on the safety feature list; windshield wipers, steering wheels or brake pedals.
Under the temporary approval, Nuro will have to make real-time safety reports to the agency. Nuro also will have to hold regular meetings with the agency and reach out to the community in areas where the vehicles will travel, according to the report.
Nuro plans to run fewer than 100 cars but has approval to eventually operate 2,500.