A law that would, for the first time, create a federal regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles is speeding down the legislative highway. Unfortunately, thanks to the intervention of special interests, it might not include heavy semi-trucks (or tractor-trailers, or big-rigs, or 18-wheelers, or lorries, or whatever you call them).
The House got the ball rolling early last month by passing the SELF DRIVE Act, which enables the continued testing and development of autonomous-vehicle technology. More recently, attention has turned to the Senate, where the Senate Commerce Committee on Oct. 4 cleared the similar AV START Act – compromise legislation brokered by Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Gary Peters, D-Mich.
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