HB1731– Enhancing the requirements for autonomous vehicle testing.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Kloba (D; 1st District; Kirkland) (Co-Sponsor Representative Boehnke-R)
Current status – Rescheduled for a hearing in Transportation Thursday February 1st at 3:30 PM.
Next step would be – Action by the committee.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –

The bill would require programs for testing fully autonomous vehicles with a backup human operator in the car on public roadways to certify that only someone with a valid US driver’s license and authorized by the developer of the system will operate or monitor the vehicle, that the vehicle will be continuously monitored by the operator, that he or she will be able to direct the vehicle’s movements if human assistance is required, and that the vehicles’ operation will comply with Washington State motor vehicle laws at all times.

It would require programs for testing fully autonomous vehicles without a backup human operator in the car on public roadways to certify that the vehicles will have an automated system that performs all aspects of the dynamic driving task within the environment in which it’s designed to function; that they’ll be capable of achieving a minimal risk condition to reduce the risk of a collision without human intervention when it’s necessary to maintain safe operations (such as stopping); and that they’ll comply with the motor vehicle laws. These programs would also have to certify that they have a comprehensive safety case framework with identifiable safety-related goals and mandatory feedback mechanisms in place; have conducted driving simulations and closed-course testing in preparation for testing on public roadways; have evaluated the safety record of the autonomous vehicle being tested to determine its readiness for testing on public roadways; and have put any additional safety measures appropriate to the less predictable driving environment of testing on public roadways in place, based on the evidence they’ve collected through these previous measures. Programs  would also have to certify that they’ve verified that the vehicle meets appropriate and applicable industry standards to help defend against, detect, and respond to cyberattacks, unauthorized intrusions, and false control commands.

The bill would shift the current requirements for reporting information about collisions or moving violations to the Department; it would require submitting the information that’s sent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration under the national autonomous vehicle incident reporting requirements, or the information the Department decided to require. It would add local fire service providers to the authorities that programs have to notify about periods in which they’ll be testing vehicles, and require providing a guide including instructions for interaction with autonomous vehicles without human operators as part of the notices when those are going to be tested. It would make the registered agent for a testing program responsible for tickets issued for violations of the traffic laws by fully autonomous vehicles without human operators in them, though those would not become part of the agent’s driving record. It would make any commercial or proprietary information submitted to the Department to which the NHTSA grants confidential status exempt from the public disclosure law.