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The Obama administration said companies developing driverless cars should adopt a series of government recommendations to certify their vehicles are ready for U.S. roads, a policy aimed at front-running possible conflicting local rules and potentially reducing traffic fatalities.

The U.S. Transportation Department, in guidelines to be rolled out Tuesday, urges that car makers and other developers submit to a 15-point "safety assessment" outlining how driverless cars are tested, safeguards should systems fail and how vehicles are programmed to comply with existing traffic laws. The guidelines also expect companies to detail plans to prevent vehicle hacking.

The policy amounts to suggestions as opposed to firm regulations with legal force. Federal highway safety regulators have resisted developing official rules for driverless cars amid concerns the yearslong process could result in rules rendered moot by fast-emerging technologies.

Instead, U.S. officials are hoping to spur companies to share data on crashes, detail their latest systems to regulators and take steps to ensure technologies are traffic-ready. Current regulations set out specific safety standards for seat belts, brakes and other traditional systems envisioning human drivers. The latest autonomous-vehicle guidelines largely lack specific benchmarks and delineate areas for companies to share and submit information.

The guidelines apply to fully driverless cars that don't yet predominate U.S. roads, though portions of the suggestions affect vehicles with semiautonomous features that assist drivers. The suggestions could change depending on the outcome of November's presidential election.

Auto makers and technology companies have been concerned about conflicting rules in different states. California, for instance, previously proposed requiring drivers obtain special licenses for autonomous cars and subjecting them to specific tests.

The U.S. guidelines suggest states retain prominence over driver's licenses, car registrations, traffic laws, insurance and legal liabilities. But they say states should steer clear of conflicting safety standards for driverless cars, leaving that oversight to federal officials. Officials said they would consider exempting companies from existing rules for emerging technologies deemed to have promising safety benefits.

"This is a change of culture for us," said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on a call with reporters Monday, noting officials typically make cars meet specific standards. "It isn't prescriptive in the sense that we're saying there have to be certain proof points. We have to have a level of confidence. It's really creating a more open-ended type of approach."

Regulators will investigate and urge recalls when systems pose unreasonable risks to safety, officials said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is probing the May fatal crash of a Tesla Motors Inc. electric car driving itself with its Autopilot system. Officials want the ability to clear such systems before they hit the market and require companies to immediately address technologies deemed "imminent hazards," but that authority would require congressional approval. They also want to ensure vehicles eventually can talk to each other to help avoid crashes.

"Guidance is the right action to take since the technology is developing quickly and collaboration between auto makers and [regulators] is critical to avoid policies that become outdated," said a spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a Washington advocacy group representing a dozen car makers. "We look forward to working with [regulators] and state policy makers to produce a consistent, nationwide approach that ensures these vehicles are brought to market without unnecessary restrictions or delay."

The development of driverless cars has sparked a technological arms race among traditional car manufacturers, technology titans and Silicon Valley startups. But hurdles with infrastructure, regulations, and clarity on legal liability could slow down adoption.

U.S. officials are attempting to balance encouraging adoption of promising technologies that researchers contend will cut traffic fatalities while ensuring they're safe. Traffic deaths topped 35,000 in 2015, according to government figures, largely because of human error.

The challenge was thrown into sharp relief after the May fatal crash of the Tesla car. Tesla said the car's automatic emergency braking system failed to detect the white trailer on a truck that pulled in front of the car against a brightly-lit sky, leading to a collision.

Tesla plans before the end of this month to introduce updated Autopilot software that relies more on radar signals and safeguards to keep drivers engaged, changes Chief Executive Elon Musk said would have prevented the May fatal crash.

"We believe we've struck the right balance between safety and innovation and shown how those two things can work with each other and not at cross-purposes," Mr. Foxx said.

Motorists have expressed enthusiasm for automated-driving technologies such as adaptive cruise control, automatic brakes and lane-keeping assists. But they've also conceded placing outsize confidence in the features despite fine print and other warnings. Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz in July pulled a television ad amid concerns it portrayed a car as fully self-driving rather than one with a suite of technologies that perform some driving functions under certain circumstances.

Driverless cars are already being tested, with ride-sharing firm Uber Technologies Inc. putting some on Pittsburgh roads earlier this month. General Motors Co. and Uber rival Lyft Inc. have discussed plans to eventually test a fleet of self-driving Chevrolet Bolt electric taxis.

"Automated vehicles are no longer science fiction. In fact, they're here," said Jeffrey Zients, a top adviser to the president and director of the National Economic Council.

Industry experts expect autonomous vehicles to dot roads in cities as part of ride-sharing efforts in the near term. Lyft co-founder and president John Zimmer expects car ownership will all but end in major U.S. cities in less than a decade. Uber is close to opening an office in Detroit to collaborate with conventional car makers, an executive said Monday.

Car companies and technology firms are taking varied approaches to autonomous driving. Google parent Alphabet Inc. is testing driverless cars that don't require human interaction, viewing such vehicles as potentially safer than those with stepping-stone technologies. Others including Tesla are continuing to roll out features that can let cars drive themselves in certain conditions but don't render them fully autonomous.

John D. Stoll contributed to this article.

Write to Mike Spector at mike.spector@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 19, 2016 21:45 ET (01:45 GMT)

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