Hawaii Dipping Toes, Not Surfing

For the first time in 2020, a US state has passed an AV-related law, but the newly enacted Hawaii law does not exactly grant permission for wide scale AV operations on public roads. Indeed, although more than half of US states have passed legislation that in some way touches upon autonomous or partially automated vehicles, only California has anywhere near a comprehensive regulatory system in place. California can get away with that because a major portion of the AV engineering workforce wants to live in and around San Francisco/Silicon Valley. That is a unique situation that many companies have chosen to accept.

Toes in the Water 

Hawaii joins the ranks of those states that wish to appear as if they are doing something, the equivalent of dipping ones toes in the water, without really accomplishing anything. That is fine; the legislators had a conversation. Some state representatives probably examined the issues closely. Nothing to be ashamed of.

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I Digress to an Unrelated and False Impression of Hawaii

Now I've never been to Hawaii and my first introduction to that state was from watching reruns on afternoon television of Gidget Goes Hawaiian. No doubt it was a completely accurate depiction of the surfer life. Carl Reiner plays her dad. According to Wikipedia, the movie was filmed on location at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, but a stand-in for the actress who played Gidget did the actual surfing. 

I've known people who have lived in Hawaii or spent considerable time there, but Gidget and her boyfriend Moondoggie (played by James Darren), alas, created a lasting false impression. This Gidget actress was not as good in the role as either Sandra Dee, the first Gidget, or Sally Field, who played Gidget in the TV show, before she went on to Flying Nun fame. Enough for 60s television and my elementary school years doing homework while sitting in front of the TV.

Back to Hawaii's Legislation

Hawaii's law creates an "autonomous vehicle testing program" within the state's department of transportation, without mention of funding or other details. The one pertinent point that the state legislators made when writing the law was to make sure that the citizens of Hawaii and its visitors would not feel or be threatened by a Batman-like AV. (I could not help myself after delving into ancient TV references.) Although AVs are expressly permitted to be tested on public roads, "a conventional human driver shall remain physically present in the vehicle at all times" just in case human intervention is needed.

Now before your mind goes where mine did, straight to humorous definitions of who or who might not be considered conventional, the law defines "conventional human driver" as a person who manually operates a vehicle. Fun fact: The law does not, I repeat NOT, require that the "conventional human driver" be licensed to drive in Hawaii or anywhere else. So, to appear as a conventional human, wear a polo shirt with a collar, look like you are headed to a golf course, but don't worry about passing the driving test.

Like many state laws before it, the Hawaii statute requires that a report be written. The deadline is about three weeks before the legislature convenes in 2023. This year, they convened in mid-January.