Navigating Autonomous Vehicle Technology and the Law

In 2017, the General Assembly ratified S.L. 2017-166 regulating “fully autonomous vehicles” on state roadways. Shea wrote about that legislation here, noting “[i]f you expect your car to begin driving you to work later this fall, however, you’ll be disappointed. In this instance, legislation has outpaced the technology it regulates.” Seven years later, what’s changed? Car companies are increasingly marketing and selling vehicles as autonomous, self-driving, or with self-driving features. Autopilot (Tesla), Super Cruise (GM), BlueCruise (Ford), and Drive Pilot (Mercedes) are just a few examples. Has the vehicle industry caught up? And what are the emerging issues now that some of these vehicles are on the road?

The levels of autonomous driving. With any new marketing push and emerging technology, it’s important to understand the nature of what’s being sold and the relationship between the technology and current law. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) categorizes all vehicles into one of six levels based on the amount of driving automation. The National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) adopted the SAE categories in its Federal Automated Vehicles Policy published in 2016.