Utah Legislature Moving to Adopt Standards for Driverless Cars and Trucks.

Autonomous vehicle bill rolls through House committee hearing

Paul Sancya, Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY - While federal legislators recently tapped the brakes on efforts to establish national standards for driverless vehicles, the Utah Legislature is cruising toward adopting state rules that would pave the way for autonomous cars and trucks to start sharing the highways and byways of the Beehive State with human operators.

  From article, (While federal legislators recently tapped the brakes on efforts to establish national standards for driverless vehicles, the Utah Legislature is cruising toward adopting state rules that would pave the way for autonomous cars and trucks to start sharing the highways and byways of the Beehive State with human operators.

In a presentation to a House legislative committee on Wednesday, Rep. Robert Spendlove, R-Sandy, said while current Utah statute doesn't expressly prohibit the operation of driverless vehicles on public roadways, his HB371 will specifically allow for their operation but avoids addressing, for now, what might be the trickiest part of a driverless future — insurance liability.

"(Utah Insurance Commission) Commissioner (Todd) Kiser's part is going to be the toughest part," Spendlove said. "(Autonomous vehicles) are not only going to fundamentally change transportation, but they're also going to change insurance."

Exactly what those insurance changes might look like is still an unsolved puzzle. National industry watchers have noted identifying who the customer is — the vehicle owner, the carmaker or (if it's different from the maker) the software developer — is likely a first crucial step in creating a new liability paradigm to cover accidents that don't involve a driver.)

For More Info