The US Department of Transportation (DOT) is moving to scrap requirements such as brake pedals for driverless vehicles. Reported in June 2026, the plan marks a further step in easing rules to allow the public deployment of vehicles that lack human-operated controls.
June 25 · NHTSA Federal Rulemaking
US Set to Drop the Brake-Pedal Mandate for Driverless Vehicles
NHTSA will propose scrapping the requirement for manual brake pedals — but only in vehicles built to run with no human driver at all. Braking performance stays; the pedal-based test procedures get replaced with sensor-and-software equivalents.
2016
NHTSA began expanding its autonomous-vehicle policy
Aug 2025
First exemption for a US-built driverless vehicle (Zoox)
No.135
The brake standard among FMVSS rules being rethought for ADS
From case-by-case exemptions → ADS-specific standards
Today every purpose-built robotaxi needs an individual exemption. The proposal moves toward one set of rules written for the machine, not the human.
Old FMVSS
Assumes a human driver — pedals, wheel, mirrors required
→
Per-vehicle exemption
Each design seeks individual approval
→
ADS standards
Equivalent safety via sensors & software
A two-tier structure — what changes, and for whom
Conventional cars
Pedals stay required
General passenger cars and human-operated vehicles — no change.
Exclusively driverless
Pedal mandate dropped
Braking performance kept; pedal-based tests swapped for ADS demonstrations.
Supporters say
Greater design freedom for redundant sensor & braking systems
Lower manufacturing costs, faster commercial deployment
Pedals are unnecessary in unsupervised driving
Skeptics warn
Uncertain response to rare system failures
Doubts that pedal removal is genuinely safe
This is only the entry point — not enforcement; scope and timing undisclosed
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