SB-1298 Vehicles: autonomous vehicles: safety and performance requirements.(2011-2012)
Bill Start
| Senate Bill No. 1298 |
| CHAPTER 570 |
An act to add Division 16.6 (commencing with Section 38750) to the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.
[
Approved by
Governor
September 25, 2012.
Filed with
Secretary of State
September 25, 2012.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1298, Padilla.
Vehicles: autonomous vehicles: safety and performance requirements.
Existing
law requires the Department of the California Highway Patrol to adopt
rules and regulations that are designed to promote the safe operation of
specific vehicles, including, among other things, schoolbuses and
commercial motor vehicles. Existing law also requires the Department of
Motor Vehicles to register vehicles that are being operated in this
state and to issue a license plate to an applicant for the operation and
identification of that person’s vehicle.
This
bill would authorize the operation of an autonomous vehicle, as
defined, on public roads for testing purposes, by a driver who possesses
the proper class of license for the type of vehicle being operated if
specified requirements are met, including that the driver be seated in
the driver’s seat, monitoring the safe operation of the autonomous
vehicle, and capable of taking over
immediate manual control of the autonomous vehicle in the event of an
autonomous technology failure or other emergency. The bill would
prohibit, except as provided for testing purposes, the operation of such
a vehicle on public roads until the manufacturer submits an application
to the department that includes various certifications, including a
certification that the autonomous technology satisfies certain
requirements, and the application is approved by the department pursuant
to the regulations that the department would be required to adopt. The
bill would require one of the certifications to specify that the
autonomous vehicle’s technology meets Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards for the vehicle’s model year and all other applicable safety
standards and performance requirements set forth in state and federal
law and the regulations promulgated pursuant to those laws.
The
bill would require that the Department of Motor Vehicles adopt
regulations as soon as
practicable, but no later than January 1, 2015, setting forth
requirements for the submission of evidence of insurance, surety bond,
or self-insurance required by the bill and requirements for the
submission or approval of an application to operate an autonomous
vehicle, including any testing, equipment, or performance standards, as
specified, and to hold public hearings on the adoption of any regulation
applicable to the operation of an autonomous vehicle without the
presence of a driver inside the vehicle. The bill would provide that
federal regulations promulgated by the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration supersede state law or regulation when found to be in
conflict.
The bill would require
the department to approve an application submitted by a manufacturer
upon making specified findings and would authorize the department to
impose additional requirements if the application seeks approval for
autonomous vehicles where there is no person in the
driver’s seat. The bill would also require the department to notify
the Legislature of the receipt of an application from a manufacturer
seeking approval to operate an autonomous vehicle capable of operating
without the presence of a driver inside the vehicle and the approval of
the application. The bill would provide that approval of the application
is effective no sooner than 180 days after the date the application is
submitted.
The department would be
authorized to charge a fee for the application in an amount necessary to
recover all costs reasonably incurred by the department.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Development
is actively under way of new technology that, through the use of
computers, sensors, and other systems, permits a motor vehicle to
operate without the active control and continuous monitoring of a human
operator. Motor vehicles with this technology, referred to as
“autonomous vehicles,” offer significant potential safety, mobility, and
commercial benefits for individuals and businesses in the state and
elsewhere.
(b) Autonomous vehicles
have been operated safely on public roads in the state in recent years
by entities developing and testing this
technology.
(c) The State of
California, which presently does not prohibit or specifically regulate
the operation of autonomous vehicles, desires to encourage the current
and future development, testing, and operation of autonomous vehicles on
the public roads of the state. The state seeks to avoid interrupting
these activities while at the same time creating appropriate rules
intended to ensure that the testing and operation of autonomous vehicles
in the state are conducted in a safe manner.
(d) Toward
that end, the Legislature finds it appropriate to authorize the
establishment of specific safety requirements for the testing and
operation of autonomous vehicles, and to require that future testing and
operation of autonomous vehicles in the state comply with those
requirements.
SEC. 2.
Division 16.6 (commencing with Section 38750) is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:DIVISION 16.6. Autonomous Vehicles
38750.
(a) For purposes of this division, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Autonomous
technology” means technology that has the capability to drive a vehicle
without the active physical control or monitoring by a human operator.
(2) (A) “Autonomous vehicle” means any vehicle equipped with autonomous technology that has been integrated into that vehicle.
(B) An
autonomous vehicle does not include a vehicle that is equipped with one
or more collision avoidance systems, including, but not limited to,
electronic blind spot assistance, automated emergency braking systems,
park assist, adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, lane departure
warning, traffic jam and queuing assist, or other similar systems that
enhance safety or provide driver assistance, but are not capable,
collectively or singularly, of driving the vehicle without the active
control or monitoring of a human operator.
(3) “Department” means the Department of Motor Vehicles.
(4) An
“operator” of an autonomous vehicle is the person who is seated in the
driver’s seat, or if there is no person in the driver’s seat, causes the
autonomous technology to engage.
(5) A
“manufacturer” of autonomous technology is the person as defined in
Section 470 that originally manufactures a vehicle and equips autonomous
technology on the originally completed vehicle or, in the case of a
vehicle not originally equipped with autonomous technology by the
vehicle manufacturer, the person that modifies the vehicle by installing
autonomous technology to convert it to an autonomous vehicle after the
vehicle was originally manufactured.
(b) An
autonomous vehicle may be operated on public roads for testing purposes
by a driver who possesses the proper class of license for the type of
vehicle being operated if all of the following requirements are met:
(1) The
autonomous vehicle is being operated on roads in this state solely by
employees, contractors, or other persons designated by the manufacturer
of the autonomous technology.
(2) The
driver shall be seated in the driver’s seat, monitoring the safe
operation of the autonomous vehicle, and capable of taking over
immediate manual control of the autonomous vehicle in the event of an
autonomous technology failure or other emergency.
(3) Prior
to the start of testing in this state, the manufacturer performing the
testing shall obtain an instrument of insurance, surety bond, or proof
of self-insurance in the amount of five million dollars ($5,000,000),
and shall provide evidence of the insurance, surety bond, or
self-insurance to the department in the form and manner required by the
department pursuant to the regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision
(d).
(c) Except as provided in
subdivision (b), an autonomous vehicle shall not be operated on public
roads until the manufacturer submits an application to the department,
and that application is approved by the department pursuant to the
regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (d). The application shall
contain, at a minimum, all of the following certifications:
(1) A certification by the manufacturer that the autonomous technology satisfies all of the following requirements:
(A) The autonomous vehicle has a mechanism to engage and disengage the
autonomous technology that is easily accessible to the operator.
(B) The autonomous vehicle has a visual indicator inside the cabin to indicate when the autonomous technology is engaged.
(C) The
autonomous vehicle has a system to safely alert the operator if an
autonomous technology failure is detected while the autonomous
technology is engaged, and when an alert is given, the system shall do
either of the following:
(i) Require the operator to take control of the autonomous vehicle.
(ii) If the operator does not or is unable to take control of the autonomous vehicle, the autonomous vehicle shall be capable of
coming to a complete stop.
(D) The
autonomous vehicle shall allow the operator to take control in multiple
manners, including, without limitation, through the use of the brake,
the accelerator pedal, or the steering wheel, and it shall alert the
operator that the autonomous technology has been disengaged.
(E) The
autonomous vehicle’s autonomous technology meets Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standards for the vehicle’s model year and all other applicable
safety standards and performance requirements set forth in state and
federal law and the regulations promulgated pursuant to those laws.
(F) The
autonomous technology does not make inoperative any Federal Motor
Vehicle
Safety Standards for the vehicle’s model year and all other
applicable safety standards and performance requirements set forth in
state and federal law and the regulations promulgated pursuant to those
laws.
(G) The autonomous vehicle has
a separate mechanism, in addition to, and separate from, any other
mechanism required by law, to capture and store the autonomous
technology sensor data for at least 30 seconds before a collision occurs
between the autonomous vehicle and another vehicle, object, or natural
person while the vehicle is operating in autonomous mode. The autonomous
technology sensor data shall be captured and stored in a read-only
format by the mechanism so that the data is retained until extracted
from the mechanism by an external device capable of downloading and
storing the data. The data shall be preserved for three years after the
date of the collision.
(2) A
certification that the manufacturer has tested the autonomous technology
on public roads and has complied with the testing standards, if any,
established by the department pursuant to subdivision (d).
(3) A
certification that the manufacturer will maintain a surety bond, or
proof of self-insurance as specified in regulations adopted by the
department pursuant to subdivision (d), in an amount of five million
dollars ($5,000,000).
(d) (1) As
soon as practicable, but no later than January 1, 2015, the department
shall adopt regulations setting forth requirements for the submission of
evidence of insurance, surety bond, or self-insurance required by
subdivision (b), and the submission and approval of an application
to operate an autonomous vehicle pursuant to subdivision (c).
(2) The
regulations shall include any testing, equipment, and performance
standards, in addition to those established for purposes of subdivision
(b), that the department concludes are necessary to ensure the safe
operation of autonomous vehicles on public roads, with or without the
presence of a driver inside the vehicle. In developing these
regulations, the department may consult with the Department of the
California Highway Patrol, the Institute of Transportation Studies at
the University of California, or any other entity identified by the
department that has expertise in automotive technology, automotive
safety, and autonomous system design.
(3) The
department may establish additional requirements by the adoption of
regulations, which it determines, in consultation with the Department of
the California Highway Patrol, are
necessary to ensure the safe operation of autonomous vehicles on
public roads, including, but not limited to, regulations regarding the
aggregate number of deployments of autonomous vehicles on public roads,
special rules for the registration of autonomous vehicles, new license
requirements for operators of autonomous vehicles, and rules for
revocation, suspension, or denial of any license or any approval issued
pursuant to this division.
(4) The
department shall hold public hearings on the adoption of any regulation
applicable to the operation of an autonomous vehicle without the
presence of a driver inside the vehicle.
(e) (1) The
department shall approve an application submitted by a manufacturer
pursuant to subdivision (c) if it finds that the applicant has submitted
all information and completed testing necessary to satisfy the
department that the autonomous vehicles are safe to operate on
public roads and the applicant has complied with all requirements
specified in the regulations adopted by the department pursuant to
subdivision (d).
(2) Notwithstanding
paragraph (1), if the application seeks approval for autonomous
vehicles capable of operating without the presence of a driver inside
the vehicle, the department may impose additional requirements it deems
necessary to ensure the safe operation of those vehicles, and may
require the presence of a driver in the driver’s seat of the vehicle if
it determines, based on its review pursuant to paragraph (1), that such a
requirement is necessary to ensure the safe operation of those vehicles
on public roads. The department shall notify the Legislature of the
receipt of an application from a manufacturer seeking approval to
operate an autonomous vehicle capable of operating without the presence
of a driver inside the vehicle and approval of the application. Approval
of the application shall be effective no sooner than 180 days after the
date the application is submitted.
(f) Nothing
in this division shall limit or expand the existing authority to
operate autonomous vehicles on public roads, until 120 days after the
department adopts the regulations required by paragraph (1) of
subdivision (d).
(g) Federal
regulations promulgated by the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration shall supersede the provisions of this division when
found to be in conflict with any other state law or regulation.
(h) The
manufacturer of the autonomous technology installed on a vehicle shall
provide a written disclosure to the purchaser of an autonomous vehicle
that describes what information is collected by the autonomous
technology equipped
on the vehicle. The department may promulgate regulations to
assess a fee upon a manufacturer that submits an application pursuant to
subdivision (c) to operate autonomous vehicles on public roads in an
amount necessary to recover all costs reasonably incurred by the
department.
end quote from:
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB1298
I just thought that other U.S. states and other countries might be interested in how California decided to deal with the issue of autonomously driven cars or (self driving cars).
end quote from:
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB1298
I just thought that other U.S. states and other countries might be interested in how California decided to deal with the issue of autonomously driven cars or (self driving cars).
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