US vehicle safety officials have opened an investigation into Tesla’s decision to put its new Cybercab autonomous vehicles on public roads without steering wheels or pedals.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched the probe on Friday, only hours after the first Cybercabs began operating in Austin, Texas.
Federal vehicle safety standards currently require vehicles to have manual controls, including brake pedals. However, the US Department of Transportation has proposed changing those rules for vehicles designed to be driven autonomously.
Tesla has told the NHTSA that it self-certified the Cybercab as meeting all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Automakers in the US generally determine for themselves whether their vehicles comply with the requirements.
The regulator said its investigation would examine the process and technical data Tesla used to certify the Cybercab, as well as related issues surrounding the vehicle’s deployment.
It will also assess how far Tesla’s certification relied on the view that some federal safety standards did not apply to a vehicle without conventional driving controls.
The investigation comes as Tesla begins introducing the Cybercab on public roads in Austin, in a significant test of its plans for a fully autonomous ride-hailing service.
