{ "id": "R44940", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R44940", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 584203, "date": "2018-05-17", "retrieved": "2019-10-28T22:18:36.133256", "title": "Issues in Autonomous Vehicle Deployment", "summary": "Legislation recently passed by the House of Representatives\u2014H.R. 3388\u2014and pending in the Senate\u2014S. 1885\u2014would provide new regulatory tools to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to oversee autonomous vehicles. Autonomous vehicles are seen as a way to reduce motor vehicle crashes; for example, there were 37,461 deaths from motor vehicle crashes in 2016 and nearly all of them were caused by driver error. However, despite unanimous approval in House and Senate committees and on the House floor, the legislation has proven controversial in the wake of several high-profile accidents involving autonomous vehicles being tested on public roads.\nAt present, no fully autonomous vehicles are available for public use. Many new vehicles have automated some driver functions, but all require a human to monitor the driving environment and control the vehicle. However, rapid advances in technology have made it likely that vehicles with high levels of automation will be on the market within a few years, raising questions about the adequacy of existing methods of safety oversight. \nThe federal government and the states share motor vehicle regulation, with the federal government responsible for vehicle safety and states for driver-related aspects such as licensing and registration. While NHTSA has the statutory authority to regulate all types of motor vehicles, its traditional standard-setting process would take many years at a time when vehicle innovation is changing rapidly; standards envisioned now could be obsolete by the time they took effect. In the absence of NHTSA regulation of autonomous vehicles, nearly half the states have enacted laws on different aspects of autonomous vehicle deployment, resulting in a wide variety of state regulation.\nOn September 6, 2017, the House of Representatives passed by voice vote H.R. 3388. The legislation, which incorporates some provisions recommended in 2016 and 2017 U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) reports, would preempt state regulation of some aspects of autonomous vehicle deployment, while providing new regulatory tools to NHTSA. H.R. 3388 would\npreempt states from regulating the design of autonomous vehicles, unless those laws are identical to federal law;\nexpand NHTSA\u2019s authority to grant exemptions from its standards to encourage innovation;\nrequire each manufacturer to submit a \u201csafety assessment certification\u201d showing how it is addressing autonomous vehicle safety;\nmandate within one year of enactment a NHTSA report indicating what federal safety standards must be updated and listing its vehicle safety priorities; and\nrequire manufacturers to publicize their cybersecurity and data privacy plans.\nThe legislation would also establish an advisory committee, a new regulation for rear-seat occupant alerts (to reduce infant fatalities), and a review of headlamp standards. On November 8, 2017, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation reported S. 1885, legislation that is similar in many respects to the House-passed legislation. Both bills address state preemption, safety standards, exemption authority, consumer information, cybersecurity, and privacy, but differ in their details.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44940", "sha1": "1fe9b7a99cddd072fa1e79f9a548e75541e39330", "filename": "files/20180517_R44940_1fe9b7a99cddd072fa1e79f9a548e75541e39330.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R44940_files&id=/2.png": "files/20180517_R44940_images_803b1d7069dfef0587af69b367f3fae46d981414.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R44940_files&id=/1.png": "files/20180517_R44940_images_8a244a8bc39c9994d1023bcf07b8ac87292f120c.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R44940_files&id=/0.png": "files/20180517_R44940_images_d3df1a393539239ce9827e5b14346880c08824ed.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44940", "sha1": "2d44e810febbcf7364c130d22ba22a00a7785aba", "filename": "files/20180517_R44940_2d44e810febbcf7364c130d22ba22a00a7785aba.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4806, "name": "Manufacturing Policy" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4826, "name": "Highways & Highway Vehicles" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4916, "name": "Technology & Innovation" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 574260, "date": "2017-10-16", "retrieved": "2017-10-24T13:18:55.771795", "title": "Issues in Autonomous Vehicle Deployment", "summary": "Autonomous motor vehicles have been a topic of congressional hearings in recent years. Congress is considering legislation that would, for the first time, provide new regulatory tools to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to oversee autonomous vehicles.\nAs the capacity of compact computers has gone up and their cost has dropped, the prospect of converting many driver-controlled functions to technology-control has increased significantly. Consumers are demanding that their vehicles have more telecommunications applications, while ride-sharing has prompted new concepts of mobility for the elderly and disabled, and people who do not own cars. In addition, more autonomous vehicles are seen as a way to reduce U.S. motor vehicle fatalities. There were 37,461 deaths from motor vehicle crashes in 2016, nearly all caused by driver error.\nThe federal government and the states share motor vehicle regulation, with the federal government responsible for vehicle safety and states for driver-related aspects such as licensing and registration. While NHTSA has the statutory authority to regulate all types of motor vehicles, its traditional standard-setting process would take many years at a time when vehicle innovation is changing rapidly; standards envisioned now could be obsolete by the time they took effect. In the absence of NHTSA regulation of autonomous vehicles, nearly half the states have enacted laws on different aspects of autonomous vehicle deployment, resulting in a patchwork of state regulation.\nOn September 6, 2017, the House of Representatives passed by voice vote H.R. 3388. The legislation, which incorporates some provisions recommended in a 2016 U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) report and also in a later 2017 DOT report, would preempt state regulation of some aspects of autonomous vehicle deployment, while providing new regulatory tools to NHTSA. H.R. 3388 would\npreempt states from regulating the design of autonomous vehicles, unless those laws are identical to federal law;\nexpand NHTSA\u2019s authority to grant exemptions from its standards to encourage innovation;\nrequire each manufacturer to submit a \u201csafety assessment certification\u201d showing how it is addressing autonomous vehicle safety;\nmandate within one year of enactment a NHTSA report indicating what federal safety standards must be updated and listing its vehicle safety priorities; and\nrequire manufacturers to develop and publicize to consumers their cybersecurity and data privacy plans.\nThe legislation would also establish an advisory committee, a new regulation for rear-seat occupant alerts (to reduce infant fatalities), and a review of headlamp standards. On October 4, 2017, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation by voice vote ordered to be reported S. 1885, legislation that is similar in many respects to the House-passed legislation. In the major sections of the legislation dealing with state preemption, new safety standards, exemption authority, consumer information, cybersecurity, and privacy, the two bills seek similar objectives, but differ in their details.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44940", "sha1": "272cfe3aecaa5dfcd39e5715c8c45c6886f641ad", "filename": "files/20171016_R44940_272cfe3aecaa5dfcd39e5715c8c45c6886f641ad.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R44940_files&id=/1.png": "files/20171016_R44940_images_0891c5a2fd912348a96d61f37f0c9b7d8c64449c.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R44940_files&id=/2.png": "files/20171016_R44940_images_803b1d7069dfef0587af69b367f3fae46d981414.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R44940_files&id=/0.png": "files/20171016_R44940_images_d3df1a393539239ce9827e5b14346880c08824ed.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44940", "sha1": "229000367b525cef77256c458c93cf59d8cc1e46", "filename": "files/20171016_R44940_229000367b525cef77256c458c93cf59d8cc1e46.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4806, "name": "Manufacturing Policy" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4826, "name": "Highways & Highway Vehicles" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4916, "name": "Technology & Innovation" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 465997, "date": "2017-09-19", "retrieved": "2017-10-02T22:17:04.608325", "title": "Issues in Autonomous Vehicle Deployment", "summary": "Autonomous motor vehicles have been a topic of congressional hearings in recent years. Congress is considering legislation that would, for the first time, provide new regulatory tools to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to oversee autonomous vehicles.\nAs the capacity of compact computers has gone up and their cost has dropped, the prospect of converting many driver-controlled functions to technology-control has increased significantly. Consumers are demanding that their vehicles have more telecommunications applications, while ride-sharing has prompted new concepts of mobility for the elderly and disabled, and people who do not own cars. In addition, more autonomous vehicles are seen as a way to reduce U.S. motor vehicle fatalities. There were over 40,000 deaths from traffic accidents in 2016, nearly all caused by driver error.\nThe federal government and the states share motor vehicle regulation, with the federal government responsible for vehicle safety and states for driver-related aspects such as licensing and registration. While NHTSA has the statutory authority to regulate all types of motor vehicles, its traditional standard-setting process would take many years at a time when vehicle innovation is changing rapidly; standards envisioned now could be obsolete by the time they took effect. In the absence of NHTSA regulation of autonomous vehicles, nearly half the states have enacted laws on different aspects of autonomous vehicle deployment, resulting in a patchwork of state regulation.\nOn September 6, 2017, the House of Representatives passed by voice vote H.R. 3388. The legislation, which incorporates some provisions recommended in a 2016 U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) report and also in a later 2017 DOT report, would preempt state regulation of some aspects of autonomous vehicle deployment, while providing new regulatory tools to NHTSA. H.R. 3388 would\npreempt states from regulating the design of autonomous vehicles, unless those laws are identical to federal law;\nexpand NHTSA\u2019s authority to grant exemptions from its standards to encourage innovation;\nrequire each manufacturer to submit a \u201csafety assessment certification\u201d showing how it is addressing autonomous vehicle safety;\nmandate within one year of enactment a NHTSA report indicating what federal safety standards must be updated and listing its vehicle safety priorities; and\nrequire manufacturers to develop and publicize to consumers their cybersecurity and data privacy plans.\nThe legislation would also establish an advisory committee, a new regulation for rear-seat occupant alerts (to reduce infant fatalities), and a review of headlamp standards. H.R. 3388 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; members of that committee have issued principles to guide them in developing similar legislation.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44940", "sha1": "18d5b8befb84675a35549b79fdbca2a4df46180e", "filename": "files/20170919_R44940_18d5b8befb84675a35549b79fdbca2a4df46180e.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R44940_files&id=/1.png": "files/20170919_R44940_images_0891c5a2fd912348a96d61f37f0c9b7d8c64449c.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R44940_files&id=/2.png": "files/20170919_R44940_images_803b1d7069dfef0587af69b367f3fae46d981414.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R44940_files&id=/0.png": "files/20170919_R44940_images_d3df1a393539239ce9827e5b14346880c08824ed.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44940", "sha1": "fb64838a0702ae78ce3aa957746187168f9be5ce", "filename": "files/20170919_R44940_fb64838a0702ae78ce3aa957746187168f9be5ce.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4806, "name": "Manufacturing Policy" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4826, "name": "Highways & Highway Vehicles" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4916, "name": "Technology & Innovation" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Industry and Trade" ] }