Stakeholders in autonomous vehicle technology are calling for industry and government to come together to create a common framework for safely testing and deploying AVs in the U.S.

During an industry roundtable event held virtually Thursday, safety experts and executives from AV technology companies discussed the importance of lawmakers and federal agencies such as NHTSA working with stakeholders to develop common standards that can speed the deployment of these technologies without stifling innovation.

“We need, first of all, for the public to understand why this is just bigger than saving lives on the road. It will impact everything in our lives, and we need to make sure that the United States is ahead,” said Robbie Diamond, CEO of Securing America’s Future Energy, the Washington-based group that hosted the event.

“We need a road map, of course, so that companies can do this safely and that people have trust. We need our agencies to step up if Capitol Hill will not,” he said.

As of yet, there is no federal AV regulation in the U.S. Instead, NHTSA has been “methodically but slowly revising” the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to remove any impediments to the development of AVs, according to Kevin Vincent, associate general counsel of Lucid Motors and former chief counsel at NHTSA.

Vincent, citing a paper he wrote outlining a regulatory framework for AVs, said NHTSA should use its authority to adopt industry standards to create federal regulations for these vehicles “as soon as possible.”

“If we change NHTSA’s enforcement practice to quickly address any new safety risks, we can assure the public that NHTSA is … properly and immediately correcting with industry any new risks that are created,” he said. “That way the public will trust AVs.”

Jack Weast, vice president of AV standards at Intel Corp.-owned Mobileye, said the industry needs performance standards that set clear expectations on what is reasonably foreseeable for an AV to assume about the behavior of other road users.

“We don’t need to be specifying an insane amount of detail … but we do have an opportunity to set clear expectations for society on what should the vehicles be able to do and what is reasonably foreseeable or not,” Weast said.

The discussion comes amid multiple reports of Tesla vehicle crashes around the country, including a fatal crash in California last week. Some of the crashes have involved the electric vehicle maker’s Autopilot driver-assist system.

To date, NHTSA has opened more than 20 investigations into Tesla crashes. The agency has not yet issued specific regulations or performance standards for driver-assist systems.

“As names for these features vary by manufacturer and some technologies warn the driver while others take momentary action for the driver, there’s a serious education challenge here,” Steven Cliff, NHTSA’s acting administrator, said in remarks during the event. “NHTSA continues to educate drivers about the features of their vehicles as well as their limitations.”

Cliff added: “We will remain vigilant in our oversight role and act when appropriate. Technology is moving fast, and we have important work ahead of us.”

Debbie Hersman, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said Tesla is an example of both optimism and pessimism in the AV space.

“When it comes to automation, Tesla has continued to exhibit a lack of respect for safety,” she said. “I think Tesla has shown us what’s possible — how to move quickly and do the things we want to do — but they have also shown us the risks of moving quickly.”

Hersman, who is also the former chief safety officer for Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo self-driving unit, said driver-assist systems are the “steppingstones to building public trust and acceptance with technology.”

“The biggest concern for me is that NHTSA and DOT have long been leaders in automotive safety, and nature really abhors a vacuum,” she said. “And so, if NHTSA doesn’t occupy that space, others will.”

Nat Beuse, head of safety for Aurora Innovation, said the industry also has to be at the table with NHTSA, but gaining public trust “isn’t solely the responsibility of the industry.”

“We have to bring the public along, and government is in a great position to do that in partnership with us,” he said.