India, July 9 -- The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has told autonomous vehicle developers to address safety failures that have led some driverless vehicles to interfere with emergency responders, warning that the issue is unacceptable and needs to be fixed quickly.
In a letter sent Wednesday, NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said the agency has identified a "clear pattern" of autonomous vehicles driving into active emergency scenes, blocking ambulances and fire trucks, and failing to react appropriately to flashing lights, traffic cones, smoke, fire, and other emergency conditions. He said these incidents are not rare "edge cases," but point to a meaningful gap in real-world performance.
NHTSA instructed...