The Trump administration is proposing to eliminate brake pedal requirements for self-driving vehicles in a boost for Tesla

The Trump administration’s Department of Transportation (DOT). Suggested New changes to federal vehicle regulations would allow companies to skip including brake pads in “vehicles designed exclusively for driving.” By automated driving systems.

This proposal, if adopted, would remove a major regulatory barrier for companies like Tesla and Zoox, which are developing vehicles that aim to be fully self-driving, without a steering wheel or pedals. The public will now have 30 days comment on the proposal before the Department of Transport decides whether or not to approve the changes.

This is the latest in a series of proposed changes to vehicle laws from Trump DOT. Late last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed removing a number of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) requirements around windshield wipers, defoggers, and tire placards.

President Biden was also working in this direction while in office. During his administration, NHTSA proposed and finalized a rule allowing self-driving vehicles to operate Without driving wheels.

Currently, any company developing an autonomous vehicle that is missing parts required by the FMVSS must request an exemption from the federal government. Even if an exemption is granted, the regulations restrict the number of exempt vehicles that can be on the road.

Removing requirements for parts like brake pads would theoretically allow companies to get self-driving vehicles on the road faster, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

“We are on the cusp of the greatest technological revolution in vehicle technology since the invention of the Model T,” NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said in a statement. “If we want America to lead the way, we have to reimagine our regulatory framework. That’s why, under Secretary Sean Duffy’s Autonomous Vehicle Framework, NHTSA is working to remove pointless barriers to innovative designs while strengthening the fundamental safety requirements that matter and holding AV developers accountable for safe performance.”

Tesla has spent the past few years developing a two-seat car it calls the Cybercab that is intended to operate without a steering wheel or pedals. The company has never applied for an exemption to the FMVSS standards that would require those controls. Instead, CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly said his company will deploy the vehicles across the country once it receives regulatory approval.

Meanwhile, Tesla has spent the past year operating a small robotaxi service in Austin, Texas. The company started the service with safety drivers in the front seats, but has steadily removed those drivers, leaving the cars running “unsupervised.” The company admitted to NHTSA that it uses remote actuators for monitoring and, in some rare cases, Moving vehicles remotely at low speeds After accidents or to avoid obstacles.

Zoox, which is owned by Amazon, applied and was accepted exemption of last year’s FMVSS standards so that it can demonstrate its automated design for this purpose. The company has since applied for another exemption to operate the robotaxis commercially, and is now waiting.

Companies like Waymo, which use modified or modified versions of regular vehicles (such as the Jaguar I-Pace), have been able to deploy as many taxis as they want because they already have manual controls.