A Look at the Legal Environment for Driverless Vehicles (2016) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 69-73
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69 regulatory action addressing the potential use cases that could result from large-scale deployment of highly autonomous vehicles."547 Although current laws generally do not discriminate with regard to driverless vehicles,548 as discussed in this report, some aspects of existing law will have to change before the general public will be able to use driverless vehicles on United States roads and highways. A mixture of federal, state, and local laws and regulations will continue to govern driverless vehicles, as they join conventional vehicles on public roads and highways.
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From page 70... ...
70 driverless vehicles.553 NHTSA is the agency within USDOT most likely to promulgate nationwide regulations that govern driverless vehicles. By statute, NHTSA has jurisdiction over the safety of "motor vehicles," defined as vehicles that are "driven or drawn by mechanical power and manufactured primarily for use on public streets, roads, and highways."554 That would include driverless vehicles.
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71 A number of additional states have considered legislation authorizing testing or operation of driverless vehicles, but the legislation has failed to pass in a far greater number of states than those that have enacted driverless vehicle authorizing legislation.565 Virginia has authorized an automated vehicle testing program (Automated Corridors) in limited parts of the state.566 In 2014, the Georgia state legislature created a "House Study Committee on Autonomous Vehicle Technology."567 So far, driverless vehicle legislation has not yet been adopted in Georgia.
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From page 72... ...
72 local level suggests that, once state laws license driverless vehicles to operate on public roads, local municipal regulation will probably follow.574 Some local ordinances may require driverless vehicles to operate only in specific designated parts of a municipality allocated for driverless vehicle use. For example, when driverless vehicles are unfamiliar and unproven, they may be excluded from areas around schools and parks where children are present.
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73 jurisdiction over interstate motor carriers.581 The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) , which provides financial and technical assistance to improve local and regional public transit systems, would be involved in transit applications of driverless vehicles.582 Most federal research regarding driverless vehicles is conducted under the auspices of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Research and Technology.583 Within the Office of the Assistant Secretary, the Joint Program Office for Intelligent Transportation Systems has provided important research with regard to connected vehicles.584 This mosaic of agencies provides a variety of perspectives on driverless vehicles within USDOT that are useful in considering the wide range of technical and policy issues raised by driverless vehicles.
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