Jan. 31, 2017—The Automotive Service Association (ASA) stated that a key focus for policymakers at the state and federal level is new automotive technologies, including vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications, driver assistance and automated vehicles (AV).
The ASA said it believes that there will be more technology-specific bills passed or proposed over the next few years, as the legislative process attempts to keep up with the technological advancements.
Since the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, there have been several bills introduced addressing self-driving vehicles and vehicles with varying levels of automation.
The New Jersey’s Senate Bill (SB) 2895, introduced by State Sen. Nia Gill, clarifies that owners of self-driving motor vehicles must ensure that their vehicles comply with all existing insurance requirements. In this case, “self-driving” is defined as a vehicle that is “capable of operating without active control or monitoring by a human operator.”
In September 2016, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) issued federal policy guidelines for automobiles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) and DOT have both published items to regulate V2V communications.
At the end of 2016, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce conducted a series of hearings on technological issues, including self-driving vehicles and connected devices.
