Driverless cars like the Tesla Cybercab could soon have their own light colour. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed letting self-driving vehicles use optional cyan “ADS marker lamps” to show when the car is driving itself. The agency announced the plan on October 23, and it will be published in the Federal Register on Monday, October 26.
How the cyan lights would work
Under the proposal, the lamps would be allowed but not required. A vehicle could have one or two cyan lamps on the front, on each side and on the rear, mounted at least 15 inches (about 38 cm) off the ground. Not a Tesla App reports the lamps would burn steadily rather than flash, and would only be on when nobody inside is expected to watch the road. That means true driverless driving, not FSD (Supervised).
NHTSA says the goal is to “clearly and consistently signal to law enforcement and other road users” when an automated driving system is in control. As The Verge points out, cars already use red, amber, white and flashing emergency colours, so cyan could fill that gap without confusing other road users.
Cars without steering wheels
The bigger change for the Cybercab is in the fine print. Rules for physical turn signal, hazard and high-beam switches would only apply to vehicles that have manual driving controls. A car with no steering wheel or pedals could let its self-driving system handle those jobs. NHTSA would also update headlamp testing for modern LED lights and drop old rules on how vertical headlamps are stacked.
“These proposed updates address unnecessary regulatory burdens for vehicles built without traditional manual controls while establishing clear performance standards for automated vehicle marker lamps,” NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said in the agency’s press release.
Why it matters for Tesla
Tesla’s Cybercab is built without a steering wheel or pedals, and its fleet keeps growing. @SawyerMerritt reported late Saturday that Tesla has now registered 465 Cybercabs in Texas, citing Texas DMV data. On the Q3 call, Tesla said unsupervised FSD could reach the first customer cars in Q2 2027, which we covered in our Cybercab Dallas story. Not a Tesla App notes Mercedes already tested similar turquoise lights for its Drive Pilot system in California and Nevada.
What it means in Canada
For now, nothing changes here. This is a U.S. proposal, and Canada sets its own lighting rules under Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108. Comments on the U.S. plan are open until November 25, 2026, under docket NHTSA-2026-1519, and NHTSA still has to finalize the rule after that.
Would you trust a car with cyan lights? Share your take with 17,000+ Ontario Tesla fans in Canada’s most active Tesla community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/teslamodelyand3/. You can also join our X community, Tesla Model* [Ontario, Canada], and vote in our polls.
Sources
- NHTSA: Updates to vehicle lighting standards for AVs (October 23, 2026)
- Federal Register: Modernization of FMVSS No. 108 to accommodate ADS-equipped vehicles
- Not a Tesla App: NHTSA proposes cyan lights for driverless cars like Cybercab
- The Verge: Feds want robotaxis to signal “I’m driving” with cyan-colored lights
- @SawyerMerritt on X: 465 Cybercabs registered in Texas