Location
USDOT Headquarters, West AtriumUPDATE: NHTSA Safety Research Portfolio Public Meeting RESCHEDULED
This event has been rescheduled and will now take place on November 20-21, 2025.
If you registered for the October dates, you will need to re-register, using the link below, if you plan to attend in November. An updated agenda is below. Please note that the Automated Driving Systems Workshop will now take place on Day 1, in the afternoon.
Registration has closed
Join NHTSA for our Safety Research Portfolio Public Meeting: Fall 2025. The agency's Vehicle Safety Research and Behavioral Safety Research offices will share information on activities within NHTSA’s research programs. This public meeting is intended to provide public and stakeholder outreach regarding research activities. NHTSA technical research staff will discuss projects recently concluded or underway and may also introduce early-stage projects. As time allows, there will be an opportunity for attendees to ask questions.
Agenda
Day 1 Research Presentations
November 20, 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. ET
Day 1 ADS Workshop
November 20, 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET
Overview and table topics are below.
- Welcome Remarks from NHTSA Leadership
- Office of Automation Safety Introduction and Overview
- ADS Exemption Program and Updates
- ADS Regulatory Considerations
- Networking Break
- Open House Style Topical Discussions (3 rounds of ~25-minute table discussions)
- Wrap-up
Day 2 Research Presentations
November 21, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET
ADS Workshop Table Topics
The Open House is intended to invite open discussion on a number of topics with NHTSA as the agency moves forward to develop and implement the Administration’s Automated Driving Systems (ADS) Framework. Subject matter experts from NHTSA and other modal administrations will be seated at tables in the West Atrium. Each table will focus on a specific topic of interest. Attendees will participate in discussions at the tables of their choice, with three rotations lasting 25 minutes each. This will allow an opportunity for a robust discussion of varying perspectives. The table topics are noted below along with prompting questions. While the questions are provided to spur thought and interest and assist in conversation, discussions are not bound by these questions.
- For those that have used or considered the AVEP or Part 555 exemption processes:
- How was your experience?
- Was anything unclear?
- Was any part particularly burdensome or frustrating?
- What worked especially well?
- Is there anything that additional you expect from the programs that you would like to see?
- Do you have any other recommendations?
- Streamlined 555 Process
- If NHTSA grants an exemption from one or more FMVSS to enable commercial deployment of an ADS-equipped vehicle on public roads, what type of conditions are appropriate:
- For occupant protection (i.e., crashworthiness) standards?
- For crash avoidance standards?
- For public reporting?
- For agency oversight (non-public)?
- What would you like to be included in a guide for Part 555 exemption submissions?
- If NHTSA grants an exemption from one or more FMVSS to enable commercial deployment of an ADS-equipped vehicle on public roads, what type of conditions are appropriate:
- What would you like to see included in an emergency responder interaction guide (i.e., a First Responder Interaction Plan (FRIP)) and what do you perceive to be an effective format to convey the information?
- What might be good ways to share the guidance with emergency responders? Would a public repository be of assistance to the emergency responder community?
- After experience in the field, are there components that might be beneficial to be added to the recommended AVSC Best Practice for First Responder Interactions elements or are perhaps extraneous?
- How frequently does an emergency responder interaction guide change or need to be updated?
- What type of emergency responder training programs do you employ or have you been exposed to? How are the training programs connected to the interaction guide?
- Are there FMVSSs that you believe are “low-hanging fruit” for ADS Purpose Built Vehicles? If so, which are the low-hanging fruit?
- Some FMVSS updates are more straightforward than others. Would it be beneficial to you/your company to address the simpler aspects of a standard first and make additional changes later?
- Many of the standards include telltales and indicators to share information with vehicle occupants. How have you considered or approached sharing of traditional telltale information with occupants in an ADS-dedicated vehicle?
- What are some data elements that are currently collected and useful within your own companies that you believe are missing from SGO data collection? Are there data elements currently collected you believe are not useful?
- What are data elements that you would be willing to share with the agency and with others in the industry that you believe would be beneficial to the industry as a whole? What safeguards or restrictions around access to this data would you like to see, if any?
- What are some challenges with the SGO data collection as it is currently implemented?
- How could national-level requirements address both State and industry needs?
- Some State and local regulations include ADS mileage and reporting requirements. What are preferred methods to share information on ADS vehicle deployments and incidents between different jurisdictions?
- What data are states interested in that aren’t currently captured in the SGO data sharing capacities? Are states collecting that data through other means?
- Which of the current standards do you see as the best candidates for near-term ADS performance requirements in FMVSS?
- What type of performance requirements might be most suitable for all ADS-equipped vehicles, regardless of vehicle type and use case?
- Industry has been talking about a safety case for a number of years and some stakeholders have asked for NHTSA to implement a safety case documentation as a requirement. What does “documentation” of a safety case look like for you?
- How often is safety case documentation updated? And who is responsible for the update?
- A traditional safety case is comprised of multiple components. Are any of those components more dynamic than others? If so, please describe how those change?
- Is reliance by an ADS developer upon a donor vehicle’s FMVSS compliance as the basis for vehicle-related safety case elements necessary or sufficient? If not, how can an ADS developer better provide for safety assurance for such elements?
- What are your thoughts about breaking a safety case into components and thinking of them as separate items rather than a “safety case” in its entirety?
- How are developers implementing version control of elements of a safety case? How do developers assure compliance with safety case?
- If evidence in support of a claim is rebutted or proven insufficient while vehicles are deployed, what steps toward remediation are necessary and appropriate? What are best practices to assure operational safety when evidence supporting a claim is undermined? At what level of an organization should responsive decisions be made?
- What are your thoughts on the presentation of the draft UNECE Global Technical Regulation (GTR) safety case? Do you have any concerns? How might this positively or negatively impact you/your company?
- What actions are you concerned that the Agency might take or might not take that impact whether vehicles equipped with ADS may operate on public roadways?
- What is your best-case scenario for NHTSA action in the ADS space?
- What is your worst-case scenario for NHTSA action in the ADS space?
- Are there any concerns specific to transit or motor carrier regulations?
- Are there any exemption procedures or program changes that would be helpful?
NHTSA is committed to providing equal access to this event for all participants. People with disabilities can submit an accommodation request to NHTSA.Communication@dot.gov by November 14, 2025.