By Madyson Fitzgerald, Stateline.org
Self-driving automobile know-how continues to advance, prompting a wave of legal responsibility and security rules from state lawmakers.
This yr, lawmakers in Arizona, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada and the District of Columbia enacted laws to manage driverless autos, in line with a database from the Nationwide Convention of State Legislatures.
Whereas a lot of the laws goals to replace current regulation to incorporate new definitions for autonomous autos, different measures put guidelines in place relating to insurance coverage, allowing, licensing and street testing.
In complete, lawmakers in 25 states launched 67 payments associated to autonomous autos, in line with the database. California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania presently have payments into account. Alaska, Delaware and Washington have payments that can be carried over into the following legislative session.
Governors vetoed two measures this yr. Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis shot down a measure that will have required a driver to be current in any business automobile being operated by an automatic driving system.
Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed a measure that will have put guidelines in place for “high-risk synthetic intelligence programs,” however would have excluded “autonomous automobile know-how” from that class.
As of now, there are not any autos which have achieved full autonomy, in line with the Society of Automotive Engineers’ standards. However a number of automobile firms have launched automated driving options, permitting drivers to take their palms off the wheel.
Tesla is rolling out its Full Self-Driving function, a system below which a automobile can drive itself virtually anyplace with minimal intervention from the driving force. Tesla Autopilot, which the corporate made out there to the general public in late 2024, additionally helps with fundamental automobile maneuvering.
And Waymo, the nation’s first autonomous ride-hailing service, is presently working in Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Los Angeles; Phoenix and San Francisco. The robo-taxi firm plans to broaden to Miami and Washington, D.C., subsequent.
In keeping with the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration, automobile security is the principle advantage of driverless automobiles. With increased ranges of automation, there’s much less room for human error or driver distractions. The brand new know-how additionally may enhance security for bicyclists and pedestrians, in line with the company.
However driverless automobiles have been concerned in tons of of accidents over the previous few years. Between 2021 and 2024, there have been 696 accidents reported that concerned a Waymo automobile, in line with an evaluation by California-based regulation agency DiMarco — Araujo — Montevideo.
And final yr, the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration started investigating Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system after a number of stories of crashes that occurred in low-visibility situations.
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