TSLA Tesla Inc

Federal auto-safety regulators are weighing requiring approval of automated-driving technologies before they reach the road, potentially expanding government oversight of auto makers after the first fatal crash involving a vehicle driving itself.

Existing motor-vehicle safety rules don't address autonomous vehicles, meaning regulators have no authority to block automated-car technologies before they are introduced. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is often limited to addressing potential safety problems after mishaps occur.

"There is no express prohibition of autonomous vehicles in … federal motor vehicle safety standards," U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said.

That regulatory regime allowed Tesla Motors Inc. to roll out its so-called Autopilot automated-driving system via a software update to many of its electric vehicles in October. A May 7 fatal crash involving the system in Florida gave regulators an opportunity to effectively scrutinize the technology.

Mr. Foxx said Tuesday that U.S. regulators may soon demand a say before such technology reaches drivers.

"I've been encouraging our team to think about … the extent to which we should encourage pre-market-approval steps. That would require industry and the department to be more in sync and more rigorous on the front end of development and testing," he said at an industry conference in San Francisco. "This change would be one that could help us assure not only ourselves but the industry and also consumers that the vehicles they are getting into are ones that have been stress-tested."

Such a move would significantly expand the federal government's oversight of an industry at a time that Washington lawmakers, safety advocates and the Transportation Department's inspector general have criticized regulators for relying too much on auto makers to report potential problems. The consideration of an approval process also reflects regulators' struggle to keep up with driverless-car technology as it starts to show up on U.S. roads.

Mr. Foxx's comments reflect a desire on the part of regulators to better police emerging technologies that reduce drivers' role in maneuvering a vehicle. But he didn't indicate how regulators would go about preapproving any technologies. Regulators could need to develop new rules or seek additional power from Congress to block automated-car technologies they find troubling.

An approval process could slow the adoption of driverless-car technology, which researchers expect to save millions of lives over the next decade, said Gloria Bergquist, a spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, an industry group.

"The technology is moving quickly and we don't want to limit the innovation," Ms. Bergquist said. U.S. officials should practice "regulatory humility," as the Federal Communications Commission did at the advent of the internet, allowing the technology to flourish, she added.

Mr. Foxx also said his department is convening a federal advisory committee to examine issues surrounding driverless cars, and would create model driverless-car policy for states to adopt to avoid a patchwork of state regulations.

Determining the safety of an autonomous car is easier said than done. Chris Urmson, the technical leader of Google parent Alphabet Inc.'s self-driving car program, has said the obvious comparison is whether the automated system is better than a human at driving. NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind estimated that a robot car should be at least twice as good as a person to be released to the public.

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, said it's impossible to know exactly how safe a system is before it is deployed.

"You can't. You wouldn't even know," Mr. Musk said. "If we knew we had a system that on balance would save lives, what kind of f------ coward wouldn't deploy that system. There is the coward's path, we are not taking that."

Mike Ramsey contributed to this article.

Write to Jack Nicas at jack.nicas@wsj.com and Mike Spector at mike.spector@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 19, 2016 16:25 ET (20:25 GMT)

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