Louisiana HB 455: MOTOR VEHICLES: Provides relative to autonomous commercial motor vehicles (EN SEE FISC NOTE SD EX See Note)

Bill Text

ENROLLED
ACT No. 232
2019 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 455
BY REPRESENTATIVES TERRY LANDRY, ADAMS, BAGNERIS, BILLIOT,
CARMODY, CARPENTER, GARY CARTER, CREWS, DUPLESSIS, GLOVER,
HORTON, JACKSON, JEFFERSON, JORDAN, LARVADAIN, MARINO,
MOORE, NORTON, PIERRE, THOMAS, WHITE, AND WRIGHT
1 AN ACT
2 To enact Part IX of Chapter 1 of Title 32 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, to be
3 comprised of R.S. 32:400.1 through 400.8, relative to autonomous commercial motor
4 vehicles; to provide for definitions; to establish the controlling authority for
5 autonomous commercial motor vehicles; to provide relative to applications to
6 operate an autonomous commercial motor vehicle; to provide relative to
7 requirements of operators; to establish the reporting requirements following an
8 accident; to provide relative to remote drivers and teleoperation systems; to provide
9 relative to liability and jurisdiction; and to provide for related matters.
10 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
11 Section 1. Part IX of Chapter 1 of Title 32 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950,
12 comprised of R.S. 32:400.1 through 400.8, is hereby enacted to read as follows:
13 PART IX. AUTONOMOUS COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES
14 §400.1. Definitions
15 When used in this Part, the following words and phrases have the meanings
16 ascribed to them, unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
17 (1) "Automated driving system" means the hardware and software that are
18 collectively capable of performing the entire dynamic driving task on a sustained
19 basis, regardless of whether it is limited to a specific operational design domain.
20 (2) "Autonomous commercial motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle used
21 in commerce and equipped with an automated driving system, including those
22 designed to function without a driver.
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HB NO. 455 ENROLLED
1 (3) "Commerce" means transportation for the purpose of compensation,
2 remuneration, employment, trade, or payment of any thing of value.
3 (4) "Commercial motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle or combination of
4 motor vehicles used in commerce to transport passengers or property if the motor
5 vehicle has a gross combination weight rating of twenty-six thousand one or more
6 pounds inclusive of a towed unit with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than ten
7 thousand pounds.
8 (5) "Conventional human driver" means a driver who manually exercises in-
9 vehicle braking, accelerating, steering, and transmission gear selection input devices
10 in order to operate a vehicle.
11 (6) "Dynamic driving task" means all of the real-time operational and tactical
12 functions required to operate a vehicle in on-road traffic excluding strategic
13 functions such as trip scheduling and selection of destinations and waypoints.
14 (7) "Minimal risk condition" means a condition to which a user or an
15 automated driving system may bring a vehicle in order to reduce the risk of a crash
16 upon experiencing a failure of the vehicle's automated driving system that renders
17 the vehicle unable to perform the entire dynamic driving task.
18 (8) "Operational design domain" means a description of the specific
19 operating domain in which an autonomous commercial motor vehicle is designed to
20 properly operate including but not limited to roadway types, speed, environmental
21 conditions, and other domain constraints.
22 (9) "Remote driver" means a natural person who is not seated in a
23 autonomous commercial motor vehicle, but is able to perform the entire dynamic
24 driving task.
25 (10) "Teleoperation system" means hardware and software installed on a
26 motor vehicle that allow a remote driver to operate the vehicle.
27 §400.2. Controlling authority; compliance
28 A. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, autonomous
29 commercial motor vehicles including any commercial use or operations, and
30 automated driving systems shall be governed exclusively by this Part.
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1 B. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the Department of
2 Transportation and Development shall be the sole and exclusive agency with
3 jurisdiction over autonomous commercial motor vehicles and automated driving
4 systems and shall implement the provisions of this Part.
5 C. The provisions of this Section shall not be construed to limit the
6 applicability of state dealer franchise laws under the provisions of R.S. 32:1251
7 through 1269.
8 §400.3. Operation; criteria
9 A. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, an
10 autonomous commercial motor vehicle may operate in this state without a
11 conventional driver physically present in the vehicle if the autonomous commercial
12 motor vehicle meets all of the following criteria:
13 (1) I