The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) granted temporary approval for robotics company Nuro to run a low-speed autonomous delivery vehicle without the side and rear-view mirrors and other safety provisions required of vehicles driven by humans. Also not on the safety feature list are windscreen wipers, steering wheels or brake pedals.

The R2 vehicle will be mostly used for delivering items such as pizza and groceries and is about half the width of a regular car, with gull-wing cargo doors. The vehicles were previously subject to federal standards for low-speed vehicles that travel under 25 miles per hour.

Those did not need steering wheels or brake pedals and did not have to have human backup drivers. Nuro vehicles can be monitored and controlled remotely by a human operator if needed.

Nuro, a privately held robotics company based in Mountain View, California, said the regulatory approval is “a milestone for the industry” as Americans “waste a lot of time running errands.” The firm envisions “a future where everything comes to you, on-demand, for free.”

It added: “By replacing heavy passenger vehicles utilised for shopping and other errands, Nuro is ushering in a new era of neighbourhood-friendly and socially responsible zero-occupant vehicles”.

Under the temporary approval, Nuro will have to deliver real-time safety reports to the NHTSA. It will also have to hold regular meetings with the agency and reach out to the community in areas where the vehicles will travel.

“NHTSA is committed to working with industry and key stakeholders to create space for innovation while prioritising safety,” the agency said in a statement. It will use enforcement powers if it finds any evidence of an unreasonable risk to safety, the statement said.

Automakers must meet about 75 auto safety standards to win such regulatory approval, many of which were put in place with the assumption that a licensed human driver would be in control.

The approval followed three years of talks between the Government and Nuro. US lawmakers have spent years trying to overhaul federal laws to speed up the deployment of self-driving vehicles.

While the company plans to deploy fewer than 100 vehicles this year, it has permission from the NHTSA to eventually run as many as 2,500. The delivery vehicles, equipped with laser, camera and radar sensors, will travel with regular traffic on public roads. 

The exemption from motor vehicle standards from the NHTSA also allows Nuro to run its rear cameras all the time. Current standards require the camera displays to turn off when the vehicle is moving forward so they do not distract human drivers, the company said.

Nuro co-founder and president Dave Ferguson said the NHTSA’s decision “shows that exemption can mean more safety”.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) granted temporary approval for robotics company Nuro to run a low-speed autonomous delivery vehicle without the side and rear-view mirrors and other safety provisions required of vehicles driven by humans. Also not on the safety feature list are windscreen wipers, steering wheels or brake pedals.

The R2 vehicle will be mostly used for delivering items such as pizza and groceries and is about half the width of a regular car, with gull-wing cargo doors. The vehicles were previously subject to federal standards for low-speed vehicles that travel under 25 miles per hour.

Those did not need steering wheels or brake pedals and did not have to have human backup drivers. Nuro vehicles can be monitored and controlled remotely by a human operator if needed.

Nuro, a privately held robotics company based in Mountain View, California, said the regulatory approval is “a milestone for the industry” as Americans “waste a lot of time running errands.” The firm envisions “a future where everything comes to you, on-demand, for free.”

It added: “By replacing heavy passenger vehicles utilised for shopping and other errands, Nuro is ushering in a new era of neighbourhood-friendly and socially responsible zero-occupant vehicles”.

Under the temporary approval, Nuro will have to deliver real-time safety reports to the NHTSA. It will also have to hold regular meetings with the agency and reach out to the community in areas where the vehicles will travel.

“NHTSA is committed to working with industry and key stakeholders to create space for innovation while prioritising safety,” the agency said in a statement. It will use enforcement powers if it finds any evidence of an unreasonable risk to safety, the statement said.

Automakers must meet about 75 auto safety standards to win such regulatory approval, many of which were put in place with the assumption that a licensed human driver would be in control.

The approval followed three years of talks between the Government and Nuro. US lawmakers have spent years trying to overhaul federal laws to speed up the deployment of self-driving vehicles.

While the company plans to deploy fewer than 100 vehicles this year, it has permission from the NHTSA to eventually run as many as 2,500. The delivery vehicles, equipped with laser, camera and radar sensors, will travel with regular traffic on public roads. 

The exemption from motor vehicle standards from the NHTSA also allows Nuro to run its rear cameras all the time. Current standards require the camera displays to turn off when the vehicle is moving forward so they do not distract human drivers, the company said.

Nuro co-founder and president Dave Ferguson said the NHTSA’s decision “shows that exemption can mean more safety”.