Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Modernization of FMVSS No. 108 To Accommodate ADS-Equipped Vehicles

Transportation Department / National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

NHTSA is proposing to amend Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108, "Lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment." The proposed updates to the standard are intended to remove unnecessary requirements and to provide design flexibility without impact on vehicle safety. The first two proposed changes would amend the test voltage specification for integral beam type headlamps and remove requirements that apply to vertical headlamp arrangements. Further proposed changes address vehicles equipped with Automated Driving Systems (ADS) that do not have manually operated driving controls. Those modifications would limit the application of certain requirements for manually operated turn signal, hazard warning signal, and beam switching controls to vehicles with manually operated driving controls. The changes are intended to address regulatory burdens and costs associated with equipment that does not fulfill the same purpose or provide safety benefits in an ADS-equipped vehicle without manually operated driving controls as in a vehicle with such controls. The changes would also narrow certain requirements for telltales to vehicles with manually operated driving controls and incorporate the term "telltale" where appropriate throughout the standard. Finally, a proposed addition to the standard would allow cyan-colored ADS marker lamps as optional motor vehicle lighting equipment in ADS-equipped vehicles.