Current Legal trends
Below is a discussion of current federal, state, and private-sector trends that relate to self-driving cars and the law.
1. FEDERAL
Federal
Legislation
SELF Drive Act (H.R. 3388) (Sept. 2017)
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4 Main Sections:
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Expansion of Federal Preemption
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Updates to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS)
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Exemptions from FMVSS
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Federal Automated Vehicles Advisory Council
Federal Guidelines
A Vision for Safety 2.0
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Released by the National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration (“NHTSA”)
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Two Sections:
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Voluntary Guidance
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Technical Assistance to States
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Focus on SAE International Levels of Automation 3-5
A Vision for Safety 2.0
2. STATE
BREAKDOWN:
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29 States have enacted AV-related legislation
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6 States have issued AV-related Executive Orders
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5 States have enacted legislation and issued Executive Orders
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10 States have done neither
State Tort
Comparison
Pros
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MI's law protects consumers by holding manufacturers liable when ADS is operating
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TN law includes a method to determine liability for privately owned AVs
Cons
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MI law does not appear to address privately owned and operated AVs (the liability language is limited to vehicles part of the SAVE project)
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TN law relies on state's existing legal framework for apportioning liability
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is this sufficient to address liability in ADS cases?​
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3. PRIVATE-SECTOR
Hover your mouse over the boxes on the right to learn more.
Vision for Safety
2.0
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Federal Guidelines
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Outlines 12 Safety Elements
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most salient design aspects to consider and address when developing, testing, and deploying ADSs on public roadways
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entities are encouraged to consider and document their use of industry standards, best practices, company policies, or other methods they have employed to provide for increased system safety in real-world conditions.
CURRENT
Issues
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Guidelines are VOLUNTARY
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No compliance requirement
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No enforcement mechanism
12 Safety Elements
1.
System Safety:
Entities are encouraged to adopt voluntary guidance, best practices, design principles, and standards developed by established and accredited standards-developing organizations (as applicable) such as the International Standards Organization (ISO) and SAE International
2.
Operational Design Domain:
Entities are encouraged to define and document the Operational Design Domain (ODD) for each ADS available on their vehicle(s) as tested or deployed for use on public roadways, as well as document the process and procedure for assessment, testing, and validation of ADS functionality with the prescribed ODD
3.
Object and Event Detection Response:
Object and Event Detection and Response (OEDR)12 refers to the detection by the driver or ADS of any circumstance that is relevant to the immediate driving task, as well as the implementation of the appropriate driver or system response to such circumstance.
4.
Fallback (minimal risk condition):
If ADS is malfunctioning, this should allow driver to be notified and regain control
5.
Validation Methods:
develop validation methods to appropriately mitigate the safety risks associated with their ADS approach. Tests should demonstrate the behavioral competencies an ADS would be expected to perform during normal operation, the ADS’s performance during crash avoidance situations, and the performance of fallback strategies relevant to the ADS’s ODD
6.
Human Machine Interface:
An ADS should be capable of informing the human operator or occupant through various indicators that the ADS is: 1. Functioning properly; 2. Currently engaged in ADS mode; 3. Currently “unavailable” for use; 4. Experiencing a malfunction; and/or 5. Requesting control transition from the ADS to the operator.
7.
Vehicle Cybersecurity:
Industry sharing of information on vehicle cybersecurity facilitates collaborative learning and helps prevent industry members from experiencing the same cyber vulnerabilities.
Entities are encouraged to report to the Auto-ISAC all discovered incidents, exploits, threats and vulnerabilities from internal testing, consumer reporting, or external security research as soon as possible, regardless of membership
8.
Crashworthiness:
1. Occupant protection: Given that a mix of vehicles with ADSs and those without will be operating on public roadways for an extended period of time, entities still need to consider the possible scenario of another vehicle crashing into an ADS-equipped vehicle and how to best protect vehicle occupants in that situation.
2. Compatibility: Unoccupied vehicles equipped with ADSs should provide geometric and energy absorption crash compatibility with existing vehicles on the road.
9.
Post-Crash ADS Behavior:
Entities engaging in testing or deployment should consider methods of returning ADSs to a safe state immediately after being involved in a crash. Depending upon the severity of the crash, actions such as shutting off the fuel pump, removing motive power, moving the vehicle to a safe position off the roadway (or safest place available), disengaging electrical power, and other actions that would assist the ADSs should be considered
10.
Data Recording:
Currently, no standard data elements exist for law enforcement, researchers, and others to use in determining why an ADS-enabled vehicle crashed. Therefore, entities engaging in testing or deployment are encouraged to establish a documented process for testing, validating, and collecting necessary data related to the occurrence of malfunctions, degradations, or failures in a way that can be used to establish the cause of any crash
11.
Consumer Education and Training
entities are encouraged to develop, document, and maintain employee, dealer, distributor, and consumer education and training programs to address the anticipated differences in the use and operation of ADSs from those of the conventional vehicles that the public owns and operates today
12.
Federal, State, and Local Laws
Entities are also encouraged to document how they intend to account for all applicable Federal, State, and local laws in the design of their vehicles and ADSs. Based on the operational design domain(s), the development of ADSs should account for all governing traffic laws when operating in automated mode for the region of operation