That combination of risk factors makes it all the more important to get adaptive driving beams on U.S. roads, automotive safety researchers said. But the new rule’s testing requirements [from NHTSA] are so detailed and cumbersome that automakers say they would have to redesign the systems, potentially delaying implementation by years, despite the already available European technology. Safety researchers
cautioned regulators against creating that kind of red tape years ago.
A number of industry groups and companies, including Ford, Honda and Volkswagen, asked the NHTSA to reconsider its requirements, and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing automakers, petitioned the agency to do so.
“The final rule contains several requirements that are either not practicable or not reasonable,” the group wrote in its petition. “If not adjusted, parts of this rule stand as an obstacle to the deployment of this important safety technology in the US market.”