NHTSA's Standing General Order: The Rule That Made This Database Possible

Every data point on AutoPilotWatch exists because of one regulation: NHTSA's Standing General Order 2021-01, issued June 29, 2021. For the first time, the federal government required manufacturers of ADS and ADAS-equipped vehicles to report crashes involving their automated systems. The result: 6,215 incidents from 60 manufacturers — the most comprehensive AV crash dataset ever assembled.

Who Must Report

The SGO applies to two groups: ADS manufacturers/operators (companies running fully autonomous vehicles — Waymo, Cruise, Zoox, etc.) and ADAS-equipped vehicle manufacturers (companies selling Level 2 systems — Tesla, GM, Honda, Subaru, etc.). Currently, 60 manufacturers have reported incidents.

Reporting Timelines

Crashes involving fatalities or injuries requiring hospitalization must be reported within 1 day. Other crashes must be reported within 10 days. Updated reports are required as new information becomes available.

What the Data Includes

Each report contains the manufacturer name, vehicle make/model/year, crash date and location, whether the system was ADS or ADAS, injury severity, number of fatalities, and a brief narrative. This data feeds directly into the database you see on AutoPilotWatch — totaling 6,215 incidents, 68 fatalities, and 3,096 injuries.

Limitations

The SGO isn't perfect. Key limitations include:

• Self-reported: Manufacturers report their own incidents. There's no independent verification.
• Inconsistent detail: Some reports are thorough; others are bare minimum.
• No exposure data: The SGO doesn't require reporting miles driven, making crash rate calculations impossible from this data alone.
• ADAS threshold: Only crashes where the system was active within 30 seconds before the crash are reported. Incidents where the system was recently deactivated may go unreported.

Why It Matters

Before the SGO, there was no systematic way to track AV crashes. Tesla's Autopilot fatalities were discovered through news reports and police investigations. Now, with mandatory reporting, the public — and regulators — have a real-time picture of AV safety. It's imperfect, but it's the foundation of accountability.