Automated Driving: State Model Bill
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1. Background.
1.1. Legislative intent. It is the intent of the Legislature to facilitate the development and deployment of automated vehicles in a way that improves highway safety.
1.2. Conventional operation. Nothing in this Act is intended or shall be construed to change existing statutory law as applied to vehicles neither under nor transitioning from automated operation.
1.3. Vehicle owners. Nothing in this Act is intended or shall be construed to abridge the existing statutory civil liability of any vehicle owner.
1.4. Geneva Convention. The Legislature hereby finds that automated operation of vehicles under the conditions prescribed herein is consistent with article 8 of the Convention on Road Traffic because (1) such operation has the potential to significantly improve highway safety, one of the objects of the Convention; (2) this State shall make such operation reasonably knowable to the foreign visitors contemplated by the Convention; (3) the Convention implicitly permits indirect control over vehicles and animals; (4) there shall remain a licensed driver of each vehicle who shall be able to specify or accept the parameters of operation; and (5) these parameters shall be consistent with the traffic laws of this State.
2. Agency implementation.
2.1. The Department shall by rule (1) define certain automation profiles and (2) establish general safety requirements for vehicles in each such profile.
2.2. The Department shall by rule (1) define certain test vehicle profiles and (2) establish general safety requirements for vehicles in each such profile.
2.3. The Department shall by rule establish requirements for automation-only licenses and virtual licenses.
2.4. The Department may by rule establish standards for the collection, transmission, retention, disclosure, use, or ownership of data generated by or for motor vehicles.
2.5. The Department shall make and maintain all other rules necessary to fully implement this Act, except that the Department may in its sole discretion decide to act through informal adjudication rather than through informal rulemaking.
2.6. The Department shall implement this Act in accordance with (1) all standards enacted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and, to the extent that the Department in its sole discretion deems practicable, (2) relevant guidelines enacted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, (3) relevant standards adopted by SAE International or the International Organization for Standardization, and (4) relevant regulations adopted by the Department of Motor Vehicles of the State of California.
2.7. The Department shall implement this Act in consultation with [ the State Highway Patrol ] and [ the Department of Transportation ], but the failure to consult shall not provide a basis for judicial invalidation of an otherwise lawful rule.
2.8. The Department may recommend additional statutory changes to the Legislature.
3. Definitions.
3.1. Automated operation means computer direction of a vehicle’s steering, braking, and accelerating without real-time human input.
3.2. Automated vehicle means a motor vehicle capable of automated operation.
3.3. Automation package means the combination of hardware and software necessary for automated operation.
3.4. Automation period means the moment that automated operation begins until the moment that a natural person (1) provides real-time input other than to mitigate an imminent risk, (2) turns off the vehicle, or (3) otherwise acts as specified by rule of the Department.
3.5. Automation profile means a set of technical conditions for and characteristics of automated operation.
3.6. Department means the [ Department of Motor Vehicles ].
3.7. Drive and operate each mean [ as provided in the vehicle code and case law ], except that the effective driver exclusively drives and operates an automated vehicle during an automation period.
3.8. Driver and operator each mean [ as provided in the vehicle code and case law ], except that the effective driver is the exclusive driver and operator of an automated vehicle during an automation period.
3.9. Effective driver means:
3.9.1. If automated operation is initiated to mitigate an imminent risk, the natural person operating the vehicle immediately prior to such initiation;
3.9.2. Else the vehicle’s virtual driver;
3.9.3. Else the natural person who actually or, by rule of the Department, presumptively initiates automated operation;
3.9.4. Else the vehicle’s owner;
3.9.5. Additionally any person who in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property activates, permits, or tampers with automated operation.
3.10. Manufacturer means any person engaged in the business of constructing or assembling vehicles of a type required to be registered under [ this title ].
3.11. Test vehicle means a vehicle registered as a platform for research, development, or demonstration of automated operation or, by rule of the Department, other safety-critical vehicle systems.
3.12. Test vehicle profile means a set of technical conditions for and characteristics of test vehicle operation.
3.13. Virtual driver means, with respect to an automated vehicle, any person holding a virtual license covering that vehicle for the pertinent part of its automation profile.
4. Vehicle registration.
4.1. When registering or renewing the registration of any motor vehicle, the Department shall ascertain and record that vehicle’s (1) automation profile and (2) virtual driver, if any.
4.2. Any modification to a motor vehicle or its equipment that alters its automation package shall invalidate its registration, unless such alteration is (1) required by law, (2) by or on behalf of the vehicle’s manufacturer, (3) to a test vehicle in accordance with its registration, or (4) otherwise permitted by rule of the Department.
4.3. The Department may decline to register or, with reasonable notice to the owner and the virtual license holder, suspend, revoke, or decline to renew the registration of any motor vehicle that it determines to be unsafe, improperly equipped, or otherwise unfit to be operated on a highway.
4.4. In making a determination regarding the registration of any motor vehicle, the Department may by rule or practice treat as conclusive a decision by the responsible agency of another state to permit or restrict the registration, sale, operation, or testing of the relevant make, model, kind, or category of motor vehicle or equipment.
4.5. The registration of a motor vehicle shall create no presumption as to the safety of that vehicle or its equipment.
5. Driver licensing.
5.1. Automation-only license.
5.1.1. Any natural person of legal driving age who solely by reason of physical disability is ineligible for a [ regular noncommercial ] driving license shall be eligible for an automation-only license.
5.1.2. Each automation-only license shall specify conditions of operation, including particular automation profiles to which it is restricted.
5.1.3. Any person who holds a valid automation-only license may operate an automated vehicle in accordance with those conditions of operation.
5.2. Virtual license.
5.2.1. Any person, natural or otherwise, who meets requirements established by the Department shall be eligible for a virtual license.
5.2.2. Each virtual license shall cover a specific kind of automated vehicle for all or part of its automation profile.
5.2.3. The Department may require that the holder of a virtual license be the manufacturer or insurer of the vehicles covered by that license.
5.2.4. Any statutory requirements for a driving license that in the Department’s determination reasonably pertain only to a natural person shall not apply to an applicant for a virtual license who is not a natural person.
5.2.5. The Department may, with reasonable notice to the license holder and owner of any covered vehicle, suspend, revoke, or restrict a virtual license.
6. Equipment.
6.1. General. [ This title’s ] vehicle and equipment provisions shall be interpreted to facilitate the development and deployment of automated vehicles in a way that improves highway safety.
6.2. Standards. Any vehicle sold, registered, modified for sale, or operated on any highway in this State shall comply with (1) all applicable standards enacted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and (2) all applicable standards enacted by the Department.
6.3. [ Automated vehicles. ]
7. Rules of the road.
7.1. General. [ This title’s ] rules of the road shall be interpreted to facilitate the development and deployment of automated vehicles in a way that improves highway safety.
7.2. Qualitative standards. No rule shall be interpreted to impose a greater obligation on drivers of automated vehicles than on drivers of vehicles that are not automated, unless the Department by rule specifies otherwise.
7.3. Virtual drivers. Any language in [ this title ] that [ the Department ] by rule determines cannot reasonably refer to a virtual driver shall instead refer to a different person or to no person at all, in each case as specified in such rule.
7.4. Unattended vehicles. A vehicle that is under automated operation by a virtual driver shall not be deemed unattended unless it is not lawfully registered, poses a risk to public safety, or unreasonably obstructs other road users.
7.5. Abandoned vehicles. A vehicle that is under automated operation by a virtual driver shall not be deemed abandoned unless it is not lawfully registered, poses a risk to public safety, or unreasonably obstructs other road users.
7.6. Following distance. A platoon that consists of at least one vehicle under automated operation by a virtual driver and that is otherwise lawful and operating lawfully shall not be deemed in violation of following-distance requirements.
7.7. Reckless driving. Any person who in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property initiates, permits, or tampers with automated operation of a vehicle is guilty of reckless driving.
7.8. Unsafe vehicles. No person shall operate any vehicle that is unsafe, improperly equipped, or otherwise unfit to be operated.
7.9. Vehicular felonies. No person shall be guilty of any felony specified in [ this title ] without a culpability at least equal to that specified or, if none is specified, [ gross negligence ].
7.10. Vehicular misdemeanors. No person shall be guilty of any misdemeanor specified in [ this title ] without a culpability at least equal to that specified or, if none is specified, [ negligence ].
7.11. Due care in vehicles under automated operation. Notwithstanding other provisions of [ this title ] or of any local ordinance, every driver or occupant of a vehicle under automated operation shall exercise due care as circumstances require to avoid injury to any other natural person.
