House Unanimously OKs Self-Driving Bill by Voice Vote; Eyes Turn to Senate

The House unanimously passed by voice vote the Safely Ensuring Lives Future Deployment and Research in Vehicle Evolution Act (Self Drive) Act (HR-3388), which would grant exemptions to automakers from safety standards to test more vehicles and would pre-empt state laws that the auto industry said would create a patchwork of regulations impeding the technology's development. Eyes now turn to the Senate Commerce Committee where Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., have been working on a similar bill. The panel plans a hearing on self-driving trucks Wednesday (see 1709060030). Thune told reporters he's “still working” on the bill with an eye to circulate a draft version as soon as later this week “to get response from members and the stakeholder community.” He hopes to file the bill within the next month and then “mark it up shortly after that.” Senate Commerce has a “little broader jurisdiction” than House Commerce does, so “there are some things that we could address in our bill” that HR-3388 couldn't, Thune said. But some Senate Commerce Democrats are raising “differences of opinion” on those additional provisions, including how the bill handles trucks, he said. “The main thing that we want to focus on is creating a pathway so that the research and development of this technology can proceed in the safest way possible,” Thune said: “We're looking at the full spectrum and trying to figure out the regulatory standpoint” for the federal and state levels. House passage of HR-3388 comes ahead of revised self-driving guidelines that Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao reportedly is to unveil Tuesday in Michigan. Neither the Department of Transportation nor the White House commented. HR-3388 was expected to pass since the House Commerce Committee advanced it by 54-0 in July (see 1707260057). Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, lauded passage in a joint statement. The bill also would impose privacy and security requirements for automakers' "collection, use, sharing, and storage of information about vehicle owners or occupants collected by a highly automated vehicle." Organizations including CTA, CTIA, Intelligent Transportation Society of America and TechNet applauded passage. Critics, including auto safety and consumer groups, said it would jeopardize safety (see 1709050064). Consumer Watchdog Privacy Project Director John Simpson said in a statement that pre-empting state laws "leaves us at the mercy of manufacturers as they use our public highways as their private laboratories however they wish with no safety protections."