The United States government has decided to allow self-driving truck companies to use bright flashing lights instead of reflective warning triangles when their trucks stop on the road. Normally, human truck drivers place reflective triangles on the road to warn other drivers after a breakdown or emergency, but self-driving trucks have no driver to do this job. Companies like Aurora can now put warning lights on top of their trucks to alert others if their vehicle has to stop suddenly.

This change happened because fully autonomous trucks do not have anyone inside to place the triangles. Sending someone to put out warning triangles on a busy road would not be safe. The US government agreed with self-driving truck companies that bright warning lights could provide the same level of safety as triangles, or possibly even more, since the lights start flashing right away.

As a result of this new rule, more self-driving trucks like those from Aurora may be able to use public roads in the United States. The government will watch closely and can end this approval if safety problems happen.