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Driverless Cars Will Need Federal Regs: DMV, Insurance Execs

Burney Simpson

Regulations for the operation of automated vehicles should be developed soon and be done at the national level, according to leaders from Allstate Insurance and the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles.

That’s because driverless technology changes the driving experience and will impact licensing, insurance, traffic laws, and crash investigations, said Jude Hurin, a DMV services manager III with the Nevada DMV.

Trying to regulate this groundbreaking change with a patchwork state-by-state approach will be inefficient and confusing, warned Hurin, who is helping to prepare new guidelines for driverless vehicles as vice chair of the AAMVA Autonomous Vehicles Best Practices Working Group.

“We need a reciprocal national agreement, and to create minimum regulations” nationwide for driverless vehicles, said Hurin. “Right now (driverless regulations) are at the state level.”

Edward Collins, Allstate’s vice president and assistant general counsel, concurs that automated vehicles represent a “revolution in auto technology” that presents an “opportunity to modernize auto insurance.”

ACCEPTING LIABILITY

An example of this was Volvo’s recent announcement that it would accept liability for any crash that occurs when its car is operating in autonomous mode, said Collins.

“Volvo acknowledged the product liability, and significantly placed it on the (auto) OEMs, and possibly the (auto parts) manufacturers,” said Collins.

DOTstop1Volvo officially launched its plan in October as part of a campaign to prod U.S. lawmakers to develop regulatory requirements for autonomous vehicles.

The Volvo plan indicates that some auto OEMs may prefer automated vehicle/connected vehicle regulations at a national level in the U.S., and at a cross-border level in Europe, Hurin said.

Hurin and Collins spoke this week at the Transportation Research Board 9th University Transportation Center Spotlight Conference, Automated and Connected Vehicles, in Washington, D.C.

The conference gathered leading university researchers, engineers, state and federal transportation officials, urban planners, technology providers and others — all active in driverless transportation.

Hurin updated attendees on the best practices working group formed by the AAMVA, or American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, with funding by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

REGULATORY CONCERNS

The working group was formed in February and includes 16 members from the U.S. and two from Canada. Plans call for spending two years researching autonomous vehicles and defining “the potential regulatory concerns the technology will create.”

Subgroups will develop guidelines for drivers’ licenses and exams, requirements for testing and for insurance, and traffic laws and crash investigations.

The guidelines are not mandates, said Hurin. Instead they can help states as they create regulations, and provide NHTSA with an understanding of what the states face as they implement the regulations.

Collins welcomed the idea of a national approach to automated and connected vehicles. Current auto insurance rules were formed in the 1940s and regulation of the business is done at the state level.

“We deal with all 50 states and the District of Columbia. (Striving for) uniformity and consistency of rules makes sense across the country,” said Collins. “It’s good to hear it is being discussed.”

Graphics by US DOT.