On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved S. 1885, the “AV START Act.” The bipartisan bill, introduced by Sens. John Thune (R-South Dakota) and Gary Peters (D-Michigan), seeks to establish federal regulatory standards for highly automated vehicles.

The bill would preempt some state laws and require the federal government to create regulations related to self-driving cars. The legislation would also allow auto manufactures to receive some exemptions from federal safety standards while new rules were being developed. The bill only applies to vehicles less than 10,000 pounds, excluding commercial trucking.

Although state insurance laws would not be directly preempted by S. 1885, the Big “I” and other insurance trade associations sent a letter expressing concerns about the impact of the legislation on state insurance markets. During the bill markup process, improvements were made to address some of those concerns. The letter also asked that the Senate continue to work with insurance stakeholders on other evolving technology issues. The Big “I” was the only agent and broker trade association to join the letter. 

While the legislation passed committee, it is not yet scheduled for a floor vote in the Senate. It also differs in some significant ways from H.R. 3388, “The SELF DRIVE Act” by Reps. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois), which the U.S. House of Representatives passed last month. For example, the Senate bill includes provisions regarding third-party access to data on highly automated vehicles which is necessary for the insurance underwriting process. The Big “I” supports these provisions.

Vehicle insurance represents 43% of total insurance premiums nationwide and advances in automobile technology are expected to have a large impact on the U.S. insurance market. Learn more with this information on self-driving vehicles from the Agents Council for Technology.

Jennifer Webb is Big “I” federal government affairs counsel.