promised in federal court the ap review of nhtsas rulemaking activities under the last three presidents found at least 13 auto safety rules that are years overdue based on deadlines set in laws passed by congress in most cases those rules are opposed by powerful industries as expensive outdated or restrictive other pending rules have been slowed by the bureaucracy or taken a back seat to other priorities under democratic presidents for example a 2011 initiative that large commercial vehicles be equipped with devices to limit their speed was recently put on indefinite hold by biden president donald trump sidetracked at least four major road safety proposals including medical evaluations of commercial truck drivers for sleep apnea pending rules include sideimpact standards for child car seats originally due in 2014 attorneys general of 17 states and the district of columbia wrote to the biden administration in july urging immediate action other pending rules would require car manufacturers to maintain records of safety defects for at least 10 years as required by congress and originally due in 2017 and antiejection protection measures for larger buses due in 2014 standards for smart car headlights begun in 2018 are incomplete despite car industry support smart headlights would adjust a high intensity light to oncoming traffic so drivers dont have to toggle between high and low beams nhtsa declined to make cliff available for comment the agency instead released a list of steps it has taken to address auto safety including recently announced proposed fuel economy standards that biden has promoted to confront climate change the agency points in part to plans to require or set standards for automatic emergency braking systems on new passenger vehicles and heavy trucks a reversal from the trump administration and to move forward on some of the delayed regulations though it did not offer firm guarantees on timing nhtsa has pledged to require what it said are rigorous testing standards for autonomous vehicles and set up a national database to document automatedvehicle crashes it has prodded electric vehicle maker tesla to recall dark touch screens and is investigating the companys autopilot partially automated driving systems failure to stop for parked emergency vehicles in recent public remarks cliff said the agency is committed to address rising traffic fatalities and he stressed a transformational and collaborative approach to safety jason levine executive director of the nonprofit center for auto safety and other consumer groups have been urging biden to quickly nominate an agency leader the last senateconfirmed nhtsa administrator served under president barack obama until 2017 you have a biden administration it seems across the board more interested in acting in a regulatory fashion than the previous administration levine said thats why theres so much excitement but also quite frankly frustration that things arent moving with a greater sense of urgency the alliance for auto innovation which is the trade association representing all auto manufacturers but tesla declined to comment for this story automakers have made some progress on safety