Texas lawmakers seek permit process for autonomous fleets

Lawmakers in Texas will soon propose legislation that would require fleets of autonomous vehicles to seek special permits and registration. 

The proposed requirements would require companies with autonomous commercial vehicles and passenger cars to inform the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles before sending a driverless vehicle out on the road solo, and to seek specific autonomous vehicle permits and registration, reported the Houston Chronicle.

“The state needs to be in a position to step in and have a set of rules,” said state Senator Robert Nichols, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. “But we are not fixing to slip something through here. We are going to have a methodology.”

The new rules would apply only to fleets of autonomous vehicles and would not apply to any privately owned driverless vehicles. The rules would facilitate the tracking of ongoing issues within a specific fleet and allow the state to potentially restrict the company’s use of driverless autonomous vehicles if necessary.  Current federal law only requires autonomous vehicle manufacturers to report any collisions involving the vehicles. 

“I don’t want to get into the levels (of autonomy). You either have a driver or you don’t have a driver. If you want to operate without a driver, we want to know about it.” 

“The industry is already working with us, we do not want to disrupt that,” he added. 

The lawmakers say they are seeking to keep the autonomous vehicle innovation going in Texas, while creating a better way to track the industry’s successes and failures.