NHTSA Issues Ultimatum to Autonomous Vehicle Developers Over First Responder Interference

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has directed autonomous vehicle developers to immediately fix vehicles' inability to detect and respond to emergency scenes.

• NHTSA administrator Jonathan Morrison issued a directive stating it is unacceptable for autonomous vehicles to interfere with first responders or law enforcement.
• Morrison's letter demands AV developers and operators present the agency with "solutions" by the end of the month.
• TechCrunch's previous investigation found that Waymo, the largest US robotaxi operator, has had repeated run-ins with first responders.
• San Francisco supervisor Bilal Mahmood said he plans to submit a letter of inquiry into how autonomous vehicles affected emergency responders after a July 4 fireworks show caused massive gridlock.