US lets driverless trucks swap warning triangles for cab-mounted beacons
US regulator FMCSA has granted robot trucks a five-year exemption to use warning beacons instead of roadside triangles, clearing a key hurdle for driverless freight. Truckers' groups object.
Symbolic image · Photo: Votpuske / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Self-driving trucks in the United States may now switch on cab-mounted warning beacons after a breakdown instead of placing reflective triangles on the road. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration granted an exemption running through October 2031. It covers developer Aurora and other Level 4 autonomous truck operators that notify the agency in advance, including Kodiak AI.
Current rules require a driver to set out triangles within 10 minutes of a breakdown, which is impossible with no one on board. The amber beacons must face forward and rearward, have redundant power and activate within five minutes of a stop. Hazardous materials and passenger transport remain barred, and crashes with the beacons on must be reported within five days.
The industry calls the decision an important step toward commercial operations, while critics including the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association warn the lights could be hidden by a jackknifed trailer. According to The Eastern Herald, the beacons were active for only about 10 hours in total while 34 trucks logged more than 500,000 miles under the earlier waiver.