Aurora Innovation took federal safety regulators to court in one case which could have far-reaching implications for self-driving trucking companies operating in a regulatory environment designed around people.

The fight centers on the common practice of placing physical warning triangles around semi trucks stopped on highways. The court denied Aurora’s request to be exempted from the safety requirement. Aurora, which plans to launch a fully autonomous commercial truck operation in April, turned to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals to push regulators to green-light its exemption.

The move underscores a long-standing tension between autonomous car companies seeking to commercialize their technology and safety standards designed for humans.

This is what happens in a world where people drive trucks: Truck drivers move their hazards and have 10 minutes to put up reflective safety triangles as a warning to other road users. The first triangle is 10 feet behind the truck facing oncoming traffic. The second one goes 100 feet behind the truck. And the third was 100 feet ahead of the truck or 100 feet behind the truck but off center. The driver can adjust those positions if the truck backs up in a curve or blind spot.

In a world where AI drives the trucks, there’s no one around to turn off the warning lights. The AV industry, led by Aurora Innovation and Waymo, submitted a request in January 2023 that would allow them and other AV companies to install flashing warning beacons in truck cabs.

(Note: Waymo submitted the Aurora request back when it still had an active autonomous trucking unit. Waymo has shifted focus from self-driving trucks by June 2023and not as active in this fight.)

Almost two years later, the Federal Motor Safety Carrier Administration denied the application, saying that the solution does not provide an equal or higher level of safety than the existing requirement. In its denial, the agency cited findings from Aurora and Waymo’s limited studies, which showed their proposed beacons actually performed worse than warning triangles in many cases. critical scenarios, including when the truck stops on a curve.

FMCSA also suggests that cab-mounted beacons have another drawback, namely that drivers may see behind a stopped truck before they see the beacons.

AV industry stakeholders, including the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association and Aurora, called the agency’s 52-year-old safety requirements outdated. Melissa Wade, senior director of government relations, noted that FMCSA has not provided data to support safety claims around physical triangles. He also said the agency has not provided guidance on what they would like to see in an AV-friendly replacement for safety triangles.

The request is supported by other AV companies such as Waabi and Kodiak Robotics, the US Chamber of Commerce, and the Consumer Technology Association, among others. It was opposed by organizations such as the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, the Transport Workers Union of America, and the Truck Safety Coalition.

The scuffle over warning devices and where and how to place them is one of several regulatory hurdles autonomous car companies must jump to stay compliant with federal safety standards, many of which are designed for manual human controls. For example, now, AV companies must request an exemption to deploy and mass-produce vehicles built without things like steering wheels or pedals, even though Tesla CEO Elon Musk is urging the incoming Trump administration to scrap the rules because as he hopes to deploy a large fleet of such robotaxis in the coming years.

Aurora also hopes that the Trump administration will be more favorable to the AV industry. At least, that’s the sentiment expressed by one newcomer blog post from Aurora President Ossa Fisher who gave a nod to future “hard-working, passionate transportation leaders ready to support innovation and save lives.”

Angie Griffin, a trucker for 17 years hosting a YouTube channel with her husband about the trucker lifestyle, told TechCrunch that she thinks the distance regulations required between safety triangles are appropriate because “cars pass and come at you at a speed that The sooner the better, the better.”

He said that to accommodate self-driving trucks, his ideal solution would have warning lights on the truck’s trailer, not just the cab.

Aurora, like other AV players, does not have its own trailers; it operates through hand-offs of customer trailers, which is standard in the trucking industry. Requiring carrier customers to fit their trailers with warning beacons will throw a wrench in AV companies’ plans to enter the current system with minimal disruption, but it may need to be from at a point of safety.

“You’d be surprised, especially in a place like Texas, where it’s so dark, there’s no lights around, no light pollution, in the middle of the desert, how much a 53- foot trailer on the shoulder, and you don’t really see it until you pass it,” Griffin said. “If you get hit in the back of a semi, you might not survive, even if you’re in another semi. So why take the chance?”