Skip to main content

Senators set to release new legislation on self-driving car bill

Two US Senators have announced a bipartisan agreement to remove some regulations which made it harder to deploy self-driving cars on American roads, according to a report on US political website ‘The Hill’. On 4 October a Senate committee will consider the legislation already passed by the House of representatives which would allow automakers to sell up to 25,000 vehicles in the first year they are offered and up to 100,000 if they are deemed to be as safe as cars driven by humans.
September 29, 2017 Read time: 1 min

Two US Senators have announced a bipartisan agreement to remove some regulations which made it harder to deploy self-driving cars on American roads, according to a report on US political website ‘The Hill’.

On 4 October a Senate committee will consider the legislation already passed by the House of representatives which would allow automakers to sell up to 25,000 vehicles in the first year they are offered and up to 100,000 if they are deemed to be as safe as cars driven by humans.

In a joint statement, Senate Commerce committee chairman Hone Thune (R-S.D) and Senator Gary Peters (D-Mich) said: “While this Senate self-driving vehicle legislation still has room for further changes, it is a product of bipartisan cooperation we both stand behind."

Related Content

  • Is the US economic stimulus programme working?
    January 30, 2012
    In this third installment in a series of articles exploring the impact of the US economic stimulus programme on the ITS industry, Pete Goldin reports on the ongoing debate in Congress about American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. A debate continues to rage in the US Congress and in the media about the effectiveness of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), and especially the timeliness of the ARRA payments. Some of the arguments seem somewhat partisan in origin while others point out fla
  • Green light for Google self-driving vehicle prototypes
    May 18, 2015
    Google has announced the next step in its autonomous vehicle program and is about to begin testing its new prototype self-driving vehicles on public roads. This summer, the company will move its cars from the test track to the roads with safety drivers aboard. The company has been rigorously testing the cars at its test facilities for several years. The new prototypes are based on the company’s existing fleet of self-driving Lexus RX450h SUVs, which has logged nearly a million autonomous miles and recen
  • Home based real time travel information drives reduction in car use
    January 20, 2012
    David Crawford investigates a new approach to discouraging car use - the 'kitchen as travel centre'. ITS technology working together with UK planning legislation is driving an innovative 'kitchen as travel centre' approach to home design which is boosting public transport as an alternative to car use. The combination is already proving powerful enough to assuage environmentalist opposition to major urban developments. It is also being seen as a way of delivering wider social and community benefits inside an
  • US senators announce positive train control legislation
    April 22, 2015
    Following unacceptable delays in adoption of life-saving technology, US Senators Charles Schumer and Richard Blumenthal have announced the Positive Train Control Safety Act. This major rail safety bill ensures railroads are moving forward swiftly to install positive train control technology (PTC), following repeated delays in implementation of this critical technology. The bill also takes important steps to improve rail inspection practices, and enhance safety at grade crossings and work zones following rep