Bill Text: CA AB1592 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Autonomous vehicles: pilot project.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2016-09-29 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 814, Statutes of 2016. [AB1592 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB1592-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1592 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 814
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2016
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2016
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 23, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 29, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 19, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 15, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 2, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 22, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 6, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonilla
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Travis Allen, Baker, Nazarian, and
Obernolte)
JANUARY 6, 2016
An act to add and repeal Section 38755 of the Vehicle Code,
relating to autonomous vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1592, Bonilla. Autonomous vehicles: pilot project.
Existing law permits the operation of an autonomous vehicle on
public roads for testing purposes if, among other requirements, a
driver is seated in the driver's seat and is capable of taking
immediate manual control of the vehicle in the event of an autonomous
technology failure or other emergency.
This bill would, notwithstanding the above provision, until 180
days after the operative date of regulations promulgated by the
Department of Motor Vehicles to allow testing of autonomous vehicles
without a driver in the vehicle, authorize the Contra Costa
Transportation Authority to conduct a pilot project for the testing
of autonomous vehicles that do not have a driver seated in the driver'
s seat and are not equipped with a steering wheel, a brake pedal, or
an accelerator if the testing is conducted only at specified
locations and the autonomous vehicle operates at speeds of less than
35 miles per hour. The bill would require the authority or a private
entity, or a combination of the 2, to obtain an instrument of
insurance, surety bond, or proof of self-insurance in an amount of
$5,000,000 prior to the start of testing of any autonomous vehicle on
or across a public road and would require evidence of the insurance,
surety bond, or proof of self-insurance to be provided to the
Department of Motor Vehicles in the form and manner required by the
department. The bill would require the authority or a private entity,
or a combination of the 2, to provide the department with a detailed
description of the testing program, as specified. The bill would
require the operator of the autonomous vehicle technology to disclose
what personal information concerning a pilot project participant is
collected by an autonomous vehicle. The bill would allow the
department to require data collection for evaluating the safety of
the vehicles, as provided.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 38755 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
38755. (a) Notwithstanding Section 38750, the Contra Costa
Transportation Authority is authorized to conduct a pilot project for
the testing of autonomous vehicles that do not have a driver seated
in the driver's seat and are not equipped with a steering wheel, a
brake pedal, or an accelerator provided the following requirements
are met:
(1) The testing shall be conducted only at a privately owned
business park designated by the authority, inclusive of public roads
within the designated business park, and at GoMentum Station located
within the boundaries of the former Concord Naval Weapons Station.
(2) The autonomous vehicle shall operate at speeds of less than 35
miles per hour.
(b) A change in ownership of the property comprising the GoMentum
Station shall not affect the authorization to conduct testing
pursuant to this section.
(c) Prior to the start of the testing of an autonomous vehicle
that does not have a driver seated in the driver's seat on or across
a public road, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority or a private
entity, or a combination of the two, shall do both of the following:
(1) Obtain an instrument of insurance, surety bond, or proof of
self-insurance in an amount of five million dollars ($5,000,000), and
shall provide evidence of the insurance, surety bond, or proof of
self-insurance to the Department of Motor Vehicles in the form and
manner required by the department.
(2) Submit a detailed description of the testing program to the
department. The detailed description shall include all of the
following:
(A) Certification that, prior to testing on public roads, the
autonomous vehicle has been tested under controlled conditions that
simulate, as closely as practicable, the real world conditions that
the autonomous vehicle will be subject to during this pilot project,
and that the Contra Costa Transportation Authority or a private
entity, or a combination of the two, has made a reasonable
determination that it is safe to operate the autonomous vehicle on
public roads under these conditions.
(B) Evidence satisfactory to the department that the City of San
Ramon and any other local authorities with jurisdiction over the
public roads in the designated privately owned business park approve
of the geographic area and environmental, traffic, and speed
conditions authorized for purposes of this pilot project.
(C) Certification that the autonomous vehicle can only operate in
autonomous mode in the geographic area and environmental, traffic,
and speed conditions authorized in this specific pilot project.
(D) Certification that this pilot project complies, or will
comply, with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration guidance,
if any, on the safe testing, deployment, and operation of autonomous
vehicles.
(E) Certification that the autonomous vehicle used in the pilot
project complies with all applicable federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards, or written evidence that the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration either considers the absence of a steering
wheel, a brake pedal, or an accelerator permissible under federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standards or has granted the autonomous vehicle
an exemption from compliance with the relevant federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standards.
(F) Identify to the department the autonomous vehicles that are to
be tested on public roads during this pilot project. For each
vehicle, the manufacturer shall provide to the department the make,
model, and model year of the vehicle, the full vehicle identification
number, and the license plate number and the state of issuance.
(G) Certification that the vehicle is equipped with a
communication link between the vehicle and a remote operator to
provide information on the vehicle's location and status and to allow
two-way communication between the remote operator and any passengers
if the vehicle experiences any failures that would endanger the
safety of the vehicle's passengers or other road users while
operating without a driver.
(H) Certification that the autonomous vehicle is designed to
detect and respond to roadway conditions in compliance with all
provisions of this code and local regulations applicable to the
operation of motor vehicles.
(I) A copy of a law enforcement interaction plan, which includes
information that the Contra Costa Transportation Authority or a
private entity, or a combination of the two, will provide to the law
enforcement agencies whose jurisdiction covers the designated
privately owned business park to instruct those agencies on how to
interact with the vehicle in emergency and traffic enforcement
situations.
(d) The operator of the autonomous vehicle technology tested
pursuant to this section shall disclose to an individual who
participates in the pilot project what personal information, if any,
concerning the pilot project participant is collected by an
autonomous vehicle.
(e) For the testing of autonomous vehicles within the designated
business park, the department may require data collection for
evaluating the safety of the vehicles, including, but not limited to,
both of the following:
(1) A report to the department of any accident originating from
the operation of the autonomous vehicle on a public road that
resulted in the damage of property or in bodily injury or death.
Accidents shall be reported within 10 days in the form and manner
specified by the department pursuant to the regulations adopted by
the department under Section 38750.
(2) The submission to the department of an annual report in the
form and manner specified by the department pursuant to the
regulations adopted under Section 38750 summarizing information on
unplanned technology disengagements that occurred while the
autonomous vehicle was being tested on public roads. "Disengagement"
means a deactivation of the autonomous mode when a failure of the
autonomous technology is detected or when the safe operation of the
vehicle required disengagement from the autonomous mode.
(f) This section does not limit the authority of the department to
promulgate regulations governing the testing and operation of
autonomous vehicles on public roads, with or without the presence of
a driver inside the vehicle, pursuant to Section 38750.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting the act that
added this section, to address the specific circumstances of the
pilot project proposed in the County of Contra Costa. Pursuant to
Section 38750, the Department of Motor Vehicles is developing
regulations for the testing and operation of autonomous vehicles, and
it is not the intent of the Legislature to influence the content of
those statewide regulations through the adoption of the act that
added this section, which is only intended to govern the
establishment of one local pilot project.
(h) This section shall remain in effect only until 180 days after
the operative date of regulations promulgated by the department to
allow testing of autonomous vehicles without a driver in the vehicle,
on which date any testing of autonomous vehicles by the Contra Costa
Transportation Authority shall conform to those regulations, and as
of the January 1 following that date this section is repealed, unless
a later enacted statute, that is enacted before that January 1,
deletes or extends that date.
