Automotive technology is barreling down the highway to the future, figuratively and literally, as companies like Google and Tesla Motors lead the way with advancements in self-driving technology. Traditional high-end manufacturers like Audi, Mercedes and Volvo are following close behind.
Meanwhile, state policymakers are struggling to keep up when it comes to rules governing their usage.
“Most state laws to date don’t meaningfully engage with existing regulatory regimes, address the full range of potential technologies and applications, or provide a clear path forward,” said Bryant Walker Smith, an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law who has taught courses on self-driving cars.
Nonetheless, that’s been changing rapidly. Sixteen states introduced legislation on autonomous vehicles in 2015, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, up from six in 2012, though those laws have taken a variety of forms. A law enacted in Tennessee prohibits local governments from banning autonomous vehicles, for instance, while in California, the technology is largely prohibited.
“Michigan and California are arguably the most restrictive, because they expressly restrict the general operation of automated vehicles,” Smith said. “Other states seem likely to interpret their general law more flexibly.”
“Passing a new law of the kind we’ve seen isn’t necessarily the best way to encourage these technologies,” he added.
Several other states have proposed commissions to study the issue. Maryland Delegate Pam Beidle, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Motor Vehicle and Transportation, has proposed one bill to that effect for three consecutive years, which would create “a task force to create policy concerning autonomous vehicles and issues such as safety, insurance, licensing, privacy, cybersecurity and liability,” she said.
It’s been blocked from passage, Beidle said, because of some members’ hostility to commissions in general, rather than on grounds related to the technology. In spite of that hurdle, the state’s Motor Vehicle Administration announced plans to create a task force along the lines proposed by Beidle even without legislative approval.
According to the NCSL, six states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation that in some way encourages the advancement of self-driving vehicles. Yet even if a majority of states that pass legislation either view the technology with suspicion or fail to pass any laws, it may not affect much considering the advancements being made at the regulatory level.
As part of its budget for the coming year, the Obama administration has proposed allocating $3.9 billion for the Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to study how to change federal policies to adapt to the changes being propelled by autonomous vehicles. The agencies plan to release a model policy on the issue this year for states to use as guidance in writing their own. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has said that policy should be available by July.
That release will come just in time: Tesla anticipates it will have its first self-driving car in production by 2017. Other manufacturers have target dates between 2020 and 2025. While the NHTSA will be releasing advisory guidelines, and a federal policy may be in the future, several states are going to have a lot of work to do in the meantime, and trailblazers could inform what later proposals will look like.
“Uber’s experience is instructive: A lot can happen before new laws,” Smith said. “The local driverless systems in, say, a downtown or military base or retirement community, that are likely to emerge in the next few years will catalyze policy.
“States should begin by carefully analyzing their existing law for consistency with automated driving. Developers of these systems should be doing the same, and I expect we’ll see more of that,” he added.
