Pennsylvania Looks To Lead In Self-Driving Car Development

Elected leaders in Pennsylvania say they are pushing for the state to become a leader in the development of self-driving cars.

Leslie S. Richards, Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, this week announced steps being taken to put Pennsylvania at the forefront of developing autonomous and connected vehicle technologies, which includes everything from self-driving cars to infrastructure and vehicles talking to each other.

The first Autonomous Vehicles Testing Policy Task Force held a meeting this week. That task force is responsible for developing guidance that PennDOT will use when drafting autonomous vehicle policy. PennDOT is chairing the task force, which also includes officials from the Federal Highway Administration, AAA, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Uber Technologies.

Additionally, state lawmakers are planning legislation in the state Senate and House to establish Pennsylvania as a national leader in autonomous vehicle testing.

According to Richards, the legislation would:

• Provide for controlled automated vehicle testing, not operation;
• Allow flexibility to adapt to changing technology;
• Require companies interested in testing to submit an application and provide proof of $5 million in general liability insurance; and
• Allow support for in-vehicle and remote-operator testing, considered the “Full Self-Driving Automation” level, the fourth and highest level of automation as defined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

"These developments mean exciting progress for Pennsylvania. Various studies and research have pointed to autonomous and connected vehicles as having environmental and travel benefits in addition to reducing human error in driving," Richards said.

PHOTO: Leslie S. Richards, PA Secretary of Transportation