Self-Driving Vehicle Lighting Rules Get Overhaul
Vehicles without manual controls would drop required turn signal and beam-switching equipment under a proposal open for comment through November 26.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Trucks
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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published a proposal the week before November 2, 2026, to modernize lighting requirements for vehicles operated only by automated driving systems. The proposal would drop manual turn signal, hazard and beam-switching control requirements for those vehicles, and public comments are open through November 26.
Why it matters
NHTSA says the changes cut regulatory burden and cost for equipment that adds no safety benefit on vehicles without manual driving controls. For households tracking trucks and the vehicles on nearby highways, the rules shape how future self-driving trucks signal and light up the road.
The proposal amends Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 and sets equipment specifications for optional cyan ADS marker lamps, including mounting locations, activation and visibility. It also modernizes the 12.8-volt test requirement for integral beam headlamps and removes rules on the vertical ordering of lower and upper headlamp beams.
The players
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
The federal agency that sets and enforces motor vehicle safety standards, including Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 covering vehicle lighting.
The details
The proposal covers vehicles operated only by automated driving systems, which would no longer need manual turn signal, hazard warning and beam-switching controls. Manufacturers would be permitted, but not required, to install the optional ADS marker lamps. The changes would also drop the requirement dictating how lower and upper headlamp beams are vertically ordered. Comments can be filed through regulations.gov under docket NHTSA-2026-1519.
Timeline
Week before November 2, 2026: NHTSA publishes the notice of proposed rulemaking.
November 26, 2026: The public comment period on the proposal closes.
The Home Front
The proposal amends Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108, the long-standing lighting standard that governs signaling and headlamp equipment on U.S. vehicles. It follows a related Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration change that lets driverless trucks use cab-mounted warning beacons when stopped on a highway shoulder.
If you follow autonomous truck development, the comment period on the proposal runs through November 26, 2026, and anyone can file through regulations.gov under docket NHTSA-2026-1519. Nothing in the proposal changes the lights or signals on a conventional vehicle in your driveway today.
The takeaway
The proposal shows federal rules shifting to match vehicles that have no human driving controls at all. Readers who want to weigh in have until November 26, 2026, to file comments on the docket.
Further reading
For context on how self-driving rigs are changing the road, see the Trucks section.
More information
Submit or review comments on the proposal at Regulations.gov docket NHTSA-2026-1519.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Land Line Media.
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