AVSC Best Practice for Automated Driving System-Dedicated Vehicles (ADS-DVs) Safety Inspection Framework

Safety inspections support sustained safety performance when fleet operators deploy automated driving system-dedicated vehicles (ADS-DVs) on public roads. A clearly defined and traceable safety inspection protocol can help build public trust and promote industry standardization. A well-defined process for designing and managing a safety inspection protocol and a list of minimum inspection elements can help ADS-DV manufacturers, developers, and fleet operators create, maintain, and implement safety inspection protocols.

This best practice provides a framework for creating, maintaining, and documenting a safety inspection protocol. It includes a classification for ADS-DV subsystems and components, a list of minimum inspection elements, a perspective on the types of triggers that can initiate inspections, and an illustrative example of the lifecycle of a safety inspection protocol and how inspections may change at each stage. This best practice will help to standardize the communication of safety inspection information and the establishment of ADS-DV safety inspection programs.