Rules & rights
Regulation and consumer rights by jurisdiction: type approval, tariffs and duties, connected-vehicle and data rules, emissions standards, recall obligations and warranty law.
September 11, 2026
NHTSA withdraws the AV STEP rulemaking: the voluntary ADS evaluation program is dead as of June 26, 2026
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has withdrawn its January 2025 proposal for a voluntary AV STEP program. The withdrawal notice relays commenters' concerns about sparse expected participation and overlap with State rules, and points to substitute initiatives under the April 2025 Automated Vehicle Framework. A look at what the proposed program would have required, why the agency pulled it, and what the notice says remains in place for automated driving systems in the US market.
September 11, 2026
The UK Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate, in SMMT's own words: three statements from 2022, 2023 and 2025
Three dated statements from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the UK motor industry body, trace its position on the UK Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate as the regulation moved from proposal to law to amendment: ambition acknowledged, but consistent calls for consumer incentives and binding infrastructure targets.
September 11, 2026
Paper trails on paper: what NHTSA's Federal Register documents require of manufacturers when a recall happens
A rules-and-rights explainer for the US market, built from NHTSA's own Federal Register documents: the domestic defect-reporting framework under 49 CFR Part 573, dealer and distributor notification under Part 577, the foreign-recall reporting regime of Part 579 set out in the 2002 final rule, and the ongoing VIN-tracking and completion-rate reporting duties documented in the agency's 2023 notice.
September 11, 2026
NHTSA lifts the manufacture-date limit on temporary FMVSS exemptions — and takes applications online
On July 31, 2026, an interim final rule from NHTSA amended 49 CFR part 555, the regulation governing temporary exemptions from the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and the bumper standard. The rule removes language tying a temporary exemption to vehicles manufactured on or after the exemption's effective date, leaving the covered vehicle population to the Administrator's discretion, and replaces the three-copy paper application with electronic submission. The rule's original comment deadline of August 31, 2026 was itself extended by an interim final rule published on August 31, 2026. Here is what the rule changes, how part 555 exemptions work, and why driverless-vehicle makers have used them.
September 11, 2026
How a US VIN is built: what NHTSA's 49 CFR Part 565 requires, from the 2008 final rule to the current text
A source-grounded explainer of the United States vehicle identification number rule: the 17-character VIN, what it is for, how NHTSA's April 30, 2008 final rule reshaped the format, when the requirements apply by build date, and how the 2022 replica-vehicle amendments fit in. All figures and dates come from the Federal Register documents and the current eCFR text of 49 CFR Part 565, and apply to the United States market.
September 11, 2026
NHTSA's June 2025 interpretive rule on CAFE: the agency's new reading of 49 U.S.C. 32902(h)
An interpretive rule published June 11, 2025 (90 FR 24518, Docket No. NHTSA-2025-0055) restates how NHTSA reads the statutory limits in 49 U.S.C. 32902(h) for dedicated alternative-fuel vehicles, dual-fueled vehicles and compliance credits, and points to next steps in resetting the Corporate Average Fuel Economy program for the US market. For manufacturers, its practical effect will arrive through the substantive rulemakings that follow it.
September 11, 2026
NHTSA delays US seat belt reminder compliance to September 1, 2028 in answer to petitions
NHTSA published an interim final rule in the Federal Register on April 6, 2026 (91 FR 17144) responding to petitions for reconsideration of its seat belt reminder requirements, delaying the compliance dates to September 1, 2028 in the US market. The interim final rule is effective April 6, 2026, and comments are due no later than May 21, 2026, per the document's dates.
September 11, 2026
NHTSA publishes notice of GM petition for inconsequential-noncompliance decision (Docket No. NHTSA-2024-0048); comments open until October 13, 2026
NHTSA published a Federal Register notice on September 11, 2026 (91 FR 57957) acknowledging receipt of General Motors' petition for a decision of inconsequential noncompliance, Docket No. NHTSA-2024-0048, with comments due October 13, 2026.