AV Regulation in Florida Anish Kelkar Law 300 (for Extra, extra credit)

Overview of Florida Legislation -In the testing phase, required that a licensed driver is always present in an AV & they are considered the “operator” -In 2012, legislation declared the intent to “encourage the safe development, testing and operation of motor vehicles with autonomous technology.” -Directed the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to create a report on if more regulatory actions are necessary -In 2016, allowed AVs to be driven “on public roads,” and removed regulations of the testing phase, such as necessitating a drive in the vehicle. -Manufacturer of vehicle before it has the AV mode is not liable

Safety Standards -AV must be able to switch between AV and regular mode -Florida is going to use recommendations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) guidelines -For testing, Florida law requires drivers of AVs to be “affiliated with the manufacturer of the autonomous technology” - California law takes this further by establishing driver qualifications and a driver training program.

AV Trucks -In 2016, Florida passed legislation that defined autonomous technology and driver-assistive truck platooning technology -Required a study on the use and safe operation of driver-assistive truck platooning technology -allowed for a pilot project upon conclusion of the study