Mobility and Transportation Technology Review

• Jurisdiction: United States,Federal
• Publication year: 2020
• Citation: Vol. 3 No. 6

Ariel S. Wolf^*

The author discusses various recent legal developments relating to autonomous vehicles and other related technologies.

Several state legislatures recently have considered bills that would regulate the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles ("AVs"). While the COVID-19 crisis paused legislative activity across the country, states are expected to reopen and may consider some of these measures in the coming months. Below is a brief highlight of where state and local legislation currently stands.

State Autonomous Vehicle Legislation Enacted into Law

The following states have enacted the following bills into law:

- Washington State—The legislature enacted HB 2676¹ at the end of the session in March. The new AV law establishes requirements for the testing of AVs, including requiring the testing entity to hold minimum liability insurance of $5 million and to report any collisions involving an autonomous motor vehicle during testing on a public roadway for any moving violations for which a citation or infraction was issued. The law does not take effect until October 2021.
- Utah—HB 277² revises the existing statute that regulates the use of remote-operated personal delivery devices ("PDDs"). The bill amended definitions of PDD, provided for parameters of operation for a PDD in pedestrian areas and on highways, and delegated some authority over PDD regulations to local governments. The bill passed with the amendment to exclude motor vehicles from the definition of PDDs.

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Pending State Autonomous Vehicle Legislation

Legislation is pending in the following states and the District of Columbia have enacted the following bills into law:

- Alabama—SB 229³ would require automated vehicles or commercial motor vehicles with a teleoperation system be tested and approved by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the State Department of Transportation prior to operation in the state. The bill also would require that routes used by such vehicles be approved by the Department of Transportation. The bill is currently pending in the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee.
- District of Columbia—B23-0232⁴ provides for AV testing only and requires semi-annual reporting of data such as vehicle miles traveled and crash reporting by testing entities. The bill also requires AV testing entities to notify the District of Columbia's Department of Transportation of a crash involving an AV.
- California—AB 3116⁵ would authorize state and local regulatory entities to require "Mobility device" operators to submit anonymized trip data to the regulatory entity.

The bill also outlines specific conditions where the trip data could be shared with a contractor, agent, or other public agency. According to the bill, trip data can be shared if sharing of trip data is to assist the public agency in the promotion and protection of transportation planning, integration of mobility options, and road safety, among other conditions. The bill is currently pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

- North Carolina—SB 739 would establish parameters for the use of PDDs, including among other things:

(1) The PDD is monitored by a human that can exercise remote control over the PDD;
(2) The PDD does not unreasonably interfere with any vehicle or pedestrian;
(3) The PDD does not transport hazardous materials; and
(4) The PDD does not exceed speeds of 10 miles per hour in pedestrian areas or 35 miles per hour on highways.
The Commerce and Insurance Committee amended SB 739 on May 27, 2020, to include size and weight specification

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in the bill. SB 739 has been referred to the Senate Transportation Committee.

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