Oklahoman House Members Supported Self-Driving Speedup

Oklahoma’s U.S. Representatives saw no problem recently in approving a proposal to speed the deployment of self-driving cars without human controls.

The House unanimously voted in support of a move to put the federal government in regulation of the self-driving cars and barred states from blocking development of the vehicles.

Representative Doris Matsui said the bill “puts us on a path towards innovation which, up until recently, seemed unimaginable.” The House measure was the first federal legislation at increasing the development of the self-driving cars and will allow carmakers to get exemptions to put up to 25,000 vehicles on the market without meeting existing auto safety standards in the first year.

However, manufacturers seeking the exemptions have to also show their self-driving cars are at least as safe as existing vehicles on the market. States will be allowed to set rules on registration, licensing, liability, insurance and safety inspections but not performance standards.

 

Current federal rules ban self-driving cards without human controls on U.S. roads. Some groups are critical of the move with the Consumer Watchdog group comparing the move to the “wild west” saying it pre-empts any state safety standards.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao will reportedly unveil new self-driving guidelines on Tuesday.