Legislative Bonanza: New York Dipping a Toe In the Ocean

A good portion of New York State is on the ocean, but in terns of driverless, no one is running in to catch the waves. No, the analogy is more to people who stand at the edge of the water, toes in the wet sand, getting toes and maybe ankles wet.

Get ready, set, go ... for one year

The first thing to know about the New York legislation, which was tucked into a budget bill, S02005C, which has now become law, is that the law will only be in force for one year. The second important point is that the law only regulates testing. New York apparently is not ready to deal with actual operation of driverless vehicles.

Please be aware that no one who writes legislation in Albany, the state capital, went to school on the day that paragraphs and their role in readability were explained. This quote is only part of a super-long paragraph.

[T]he New York state commissioner of motor vehicles may approve demonstrations and tests consisting of the operation of a motor vehicle equipped with autonomous vehicle technology while such motor vehicle is engaged in the use of such technology on public highways within this state for the purposes of demonstrating and assessing the current development of autonomous vehicle technology and to begin identifying potential impacts of such technology on safety, traffic control, traffic enforcement, emergency services, and such other areas as may be identified by such commissioner. Provided, however, that such demonstrations and tests shall only take place under the direct supervision of the New York state police. Such demonstrations and tests shall take place in a manner and form prescribed by the commissioner of motor vehicles including, but not limited to: a requirement that a natural person holding a valid license for the operation of the motor vehicle's class be present within such vehicle for the duration of the time it is operated on public highways; ...

So as long as all paperwork is complete AND there is a human licensed driver AND a police officer nearby, you're good to test in the Expire State. Or a company can just go to one of a number of other states and forget dealing with a police officer and even a licensed human.

Oh, and the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles is required to prepare a report to the governor and the legislature by June 2018, in consultation with the state police, given the agency's knowledge of autonomous vehicle technology - time to chuckle - and, presumably, its presence during those many tests.

Lest not we judge too hastily

This is not necessarily a bad approach. New York City, for example, has never been a place of innovation, but more a place of capitalizing on what has already been created. This mindset allows New York to sit out the driverless race and to learn lessons from the many states that are rushing in to catch the waves. Many of those states have no chance to be in the lead and could be wasting time, money and effort. 

Legislative hoagie

We won't even mention, oh yes I will, that the budget provision is sandwiched between a property tax provision relating to Spring Valley, a nice enough suburb of New York City, and something relating to penalties and forfeited security about motor vehicle fines, the latter of which is stated in the most dense, unreadable prose that Charles Dickens should come back to life and quote it in a new novel.