The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed changes to federal vehicle lighting regulations that could affect Tesla’s Cybercab, which is already facing a separate audit over its road-legal certification.
The proposal would remove certain manual lighting control requirements for autonomous vehicles designed without steering wheels or pedals.
Under the current Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108, vehicles must meet requirements for manually operated lighting controls. These include switches for turn signals, hazard warning lights, and headlight beam selection, even though fully driverless vehicles may have no human driver to operate them.
NHTSA’s proposed changes would limit those requirements to vehicles equipped with manual driving controls. Vehicles operating exclusively through an automated driving system (ADS) would therefore have greater flexibility in how their lighting systems are designed, without needing conventional switches intended for human drivers.
The agency explained that the proposed revisions are intended “to remove unnecessary requirements and to provide design flexibility without impact on vehicle safety.”
The changes could be significant for Tesla’s Cybercab, which was designed without a steering wheel or pedals. NHTSA opened an audit in September examining how Tesla self-certified the vehicle under existing federal safety standards, with the automaker subsequently receiving additional time to respond.
Beyond removing certain manual control requirements, NHTSA is also proposing optional cyan-coloured exterior lights to identify vehicles operating without human supervision. The blue-green colour was selected partly because it is distinct from the blue lights used by law enforcement.
Manufacturers would not be required to install them, and Mercedes-Benz previously tested similar lights on public roads in California between 2023 and 2025.
The proposal also includes changes to headlight testing voltages and removes requirements governing vertical headlight arrangements. Tesla has not commented on the proposal.
The proposed regulations are scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on October 26, 2026, followed by a 30-day public comment period through regulations.gov.
Related Articles:
- NHTSA Opens Audit Into Tesla Cybercab’s Road-Legal Certification
- Tesla gets more time to respond to NHTSA Cybercab audit
- Tesla Cybercab records no major incidents in latest NHTSA data
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