(IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH, Des Moines, IA) – Iowa lawmakers advanced two bills from House subcommittees Monday that would restrict the commercial operation of self-driving vehicles and assign liability to the owners of autonomous vehicles. The bills were opposed by automotive industry representatives who argued the legislation would prohibit situations like an automated car transporting passengers in places like an airport. Labor unions and trial lawyers supported the bills, arguing the language would protect Iowans from the new technology.

House Study Bill 598 would hold the owner of a self-driving vehicle liable in the event of a crash or traffic law violation. It would also prohibit a “driverless-capable vehicle” from transporting hazardous material without a conventional human driver.  Michael Triplett, speaking on behalf of the Alliance For Automotive Innovation, said the bill would hold the owner of the car liable for “everything” when they put the car into autonomous mode. Triplett also called the language around hazardous material “extremely vague.”

The bill summary explains hazardous material is a “substance or material which has been determined by the U.S. secretary of transportation to be capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported in commerce.” General Motors also registered against the bill.  Lawmakers said the language of the bill still needed work, but the subcommittee ultimately decided to advance the bill. The other bill considered on Monday, House File 2375, would require a licensed, “conventional human driver” to be present in vehicles equipped with self-driving capabilities if the car is operating in a commercial capacity.

Driverless cars from companies like Waymo are now common rideshare operators in large cities like San Francisco, Austin and Los Angeles.  Uber Technologies, Inc. the popular rideshare and delivery company, registered as undecided on both bills, and did not have a representative speak at either subcommittee.”

All three lawmakers on the subcommittee, including Rep. Craig Williams (R) from Manning, and Rep. Brent Siegrist (R) from Council Bluffs, agreed to move HF 2375 forward, Monday, with Siegrist saying said some exceptions, like airports, might be warranted in the bill, but said generally the bill was an “appropriate response” to the “burgeoning industry.”

The bills are scheduled for consideration Tuesday (today) in the House Transportation Committee. They must advance from the committee by Friday to remain eligible beyond Legislature’s self-imposed funnel deadline.