CSHB 217(TRA): "An Act regulating autonomous vehicles; and providing for an effective date."
00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 217(TRA) 01 "An Act regulating autonomous vehicles; and providing for an effective date." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 28.90 is amended by adding a new section to article 1 to read: 04 Sec. 28.90.050. Autonomous vehicles. (a) An autonomous vehicle registered 05 in this state must meet federal standards and regulations for a motor vehicle operated 06 on a public highway. 07 (b) An autonomous vehicle registered in this state may not be engaged in the 08 transport of interstate commerce, goods, or passengers unless 09 (1) the transport is for personal, noncommercial use, has a gross 10 vehicle weight of 10,000 pounds or less, and is designed to transport not more than 16 11 passengers, including the driver; or 12 (2) a human safety operator is physically present in the vehicle and has 13 the ability to monitor and intervene in the vehicle's performance, including operating 14 or shutting off the vehicle. 15 (c) A human safety operator must meet federal and state requirements for
01 operating autonomous and nonautonomous vehicles. 02 (d) In the event of a motor vehicle accident involving an autonomous vehicle, 03 the human safety operator of the autonomous vehicle is presumed liable for injury or 04 damage caused by the operation of the vehicle unless there is clear and convincing 05 evidence that the vehicle's software or hardware or a modification to the vehicle 06 caused the accident to occur. Damages relating to liability shall be first recovered from 07 the human safety operator, then to the modifier of the vehicle, followed by the 08 programmer of the vehicle's software, and then the manufacturer. 09 (e) The requirements of this section do not apply to a personal delivery device 10 that 11 (1) is electrically powered; 12 (2) is operated on a sidewalk or path within the right-of-way of a 13 highway; 14 (3) is intended primarily to transport property; 15 (4) weighs less than 120 pounds, excluding cargo; 16 (5) has a maximum speed of 10 miles per hour; and 17 (6) is equipped with technology to allow for operation of the device 18 with or without the active control or monitoring of an operator who monitors or 19 exercises direct physical control over the navigation system and operation of the 20 device. 21 (f) In this section, 22 (1) "autonomous technology" does not include collision avoidance 23 systems, electronic blind spot assistance, automated emergency braking systems, park 24 assist, adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist or lane departure warning systems, 25 traffic jam and queuing assist, or other systems that enhance safety or provide driver 26 assistance that are not capable, singularly or collectively, of driving the vehicle 27 without the active control or monitoring of a human safety operator; 28 (2) "autonomous vehicle" means a vehicle equipped with autonomous 29 technology that has the capability to drive a vehicle without active physical control or 30 monitoring by a human safety operator that has been integrated into that vehicle and is 31 considered to have conditional driving automation, high driving automation, or full
01 driving automation; 02 (3) "conditional driving automation" means the sustained and 03 operational design domain-specific performance by an automated driving system of 04 the entire dynamic driving task with the expectation that the dynamic driving task 05 fallback human safety operator is receptive to an automated driving system-issued 06 request to intervene, as well as to dynamic driving task performance-relevant system 07 failures in other vehicle systems, and will respond appropriately; 08 (4) "dynamic driving task" includes all real-time operational and 09 tactical functions required to operate a vehicle in traffic, but does not include trip 10 scheduling, the selection of destinations and waypoints, and other strategic functions; 11 (5) "dynamic driving task fallback" means the response by the human 12 safety operator to perform the dynamic driving task or achieve a stable, stopped 13 condition in order to reduce the risk of a crash after a dynamic driving task system 14 failure, an operational design domain exit, or a response by the automated driving 15 system; 16 (6) "full driving automation" means the sustained and unconditional 17 performance by an automated driving system of the entire dynamic driving task and 18 dynamic driving task fallback without any expectation that a fallback human safety 19 operator will need to intervene; 20 (7) "high driving automation" means the sustained and operational 21 design domain-specific performance by an automated driving system of the entire 22 dynamic driving task and dynamic driving task fallback without any expectation that a 23 fallback human safety operator will need to intervene; 24 (8) "operational design domain" includes the environmental, 25 geographical, and time-of-day restrictions, presence or absence of roadway or traffic 26 characteristics, and other operating conditions under which a given driving automation 27 system or feature is specifically designed to function. 28 * Sec. 2. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).