Congress Is Interested

Pending federal legislation in the US includes provisions that directly mention autonomous vehicles, which refers to both driverless and partially self-driving cars and trucks - such as the Tesla we have been hearing about and watching videos of. Currently, there are no federal laws that explicitly address driverless technology and vehicles, but that is likely to change if the pending House* (of Representatives) version of the transportation bill** passes. I would put the odds at better than even on that.

House transportation bill goes driverless

Under the advanced technology section of the bill, is a provision allowing for - but not mandating - that DOT funds to be spent on projects related to large scale deployment of advanced technologies. Down deep this is enumerated further as autonomous vehicles, vehicle-to-vehicle systems, collision avoidance systems, and more. Safety technology is included as well, which, in my mind, would fit driverless systems.

Just a detail, but so far, funds for only three years of a six-year bill, have been identified.

Wait, there is more

Another House bill - entitled the Autonomous Vehicle Privacy Protection Act of 2015 (HR 3876) - provides for one thing alone and that one thing goes beyond privacy concerns.

The Comptroller General of the United States shall make available to the public a report that assesses the organizational readiness of the Department of Transportation to address autonomous vehicle technology challenges, including consumer privacy protections.

Not exactly restricted to privacy at all. Somebody harboring doubts about Department of Transportation? There is not yet a similar bill in the Senate.*** Only one member of the House has signed onto this bill, the member who introduced it, Representative Grace Meng of New York, a Democrat.

Senate transportation bill

The Senate transportation bill, known as the DRIVE Act (S 1647), and less likely to pass as is, in my opinion, does not include anything related to driverless vehicles - except in its definition of an intelligent freight transportation system, which expressly encompasses:

an innovative or intelligent technological transportation system, infrastructure, or facilities, including electronic roads, driverless trucks, elevated freight transportation facilities, and other intelligent freight transportation systems; (emphasis added)

So though the section ostensibly only relates to freight transportation, by its inclusion of roads and driverless trucks, it relates to all travel on roads. Arguably, driverless would count as intelligent as well, but most vehicles would not qualify as freight transportation.

One hint: There's always interesting tidbits in the definitions.

For anyone unfamiliar with the US legislative process

* House always refers to the House of Representatives, which is  the lower house of the US federal legislature. Each Congressman or woman has a two-year term, which, theoretically, means they are constantly running for reelection, but in reality means that most have safe seats.

** The word bill refers to a piece of legislation that is pending and has not yet become law.

*** The Senate is the upper house of the US federal legislature. Each of the 100 members, two from each state, no matter how large or how small in terms of size and population, serves six years. Though the members have six year terms, it seems they are always running for reelection because the competition is often contentious. (I hope I am using that word correctly, by the way.)