NHTSA Proposes Optional Cyan Marker Lamps for Driverless Vehicles: Federal Register Rule Published October 26, Comments Due November 25
WASHINGTON — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), is proposing to amend Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 to allow vehicles equipped with an Automated Driving System (ADS) to carry optional cyan marker lamps indicating that the vehicle is being driven by the automated system. The notice of proposed rulemaking was published in the Federal Register on October 26 (91 FR 67243, FR Doc. 2026-21794, Docket No. NHTSA-2026-1519, RIN 2127-AM70), and comments are due no later than November 25, 2026.
NHTSA stresses that the lamps would not be mandatory. The agency says it lacks sufficient information to conclude there is a safety need to require the lamps on all ADS-equipped vehicles, so it is proposing an 'if equipped' standard: any cyan marker lamp a manufacturer chooses to install must meet the proposed specifications, and installing such lamps on vehicles without ADS functionality would be prohibited. Standardizing the lamps, the agency says, would keep differing designs from confusing or distracting drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, and would give manufacturers regulatory certainty.
Under the proposal, the color would be cyan, the blue-green defined in SAE J578, consistent with industry standard SAE J3134. A vehicle would carry one or two lamps on the front, on each side and on the rear — a minimum of four and a maximum of eight in total, with at least one visible from every direction — mounted at least 15 inches above the ground and steady-burning when activated; NHTSA is separately seeking comment on whether flashing should be allowed for signaling. The notice notes that Mercedes-Benz presented marker-lamp recommendations to NHTSA and conducted a two-year on-road validation in California from 2023 to 2025 using five vehicles.
The same notice proposes several other changes: testing integral-beam headlamps at the voltage marked on the lamp, removing the requirement that lower beams sit above upper beams in vertical headlamp arrangements, and limiting manual-control requirements for turn signals, hazard warnings and beam switching — along with certain telltale requirements — to vehicles with manually operated driving controls. NHTSA says the changes are intended to remove requirements that serve no safety purpose in vehicles without a steering wheel or pedals. Comments may be submitted through regulations.gov under the docket number.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：一辆配备自动驾驶传感器的 Waymo Jaguar I-Pace 在旧金山行驶（资料图，2023年）。照片：Dllu，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / A Waymo Jaguar I-Pace equipped with automated driving sensors in San Francisco (file photo, 2023). Photo: Dllu, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
