ENROLLED
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Regular Session, 2014
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 133
BY REPRESENTATIVE LEGER
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Department of Transportation and Development to begin studying
and testing autonomous motor vehicles and consider the promulgation of rules for
the safe operation of such vehicles on the roads of the state.
WHEREAS, "autonomous motor vehicle" means a vehicle equipped with technology
that has the capability to drive the vehicle without any control or monitoring by a human
operator; a vehicle equipped with active safety systems or driver assistance systems,
including a system to provide electronic blind spot assistance, crash avoidance, emergency
braking, parking assistance, adaptive cruise control, lane keep assistance, lane departure
warning, or traffic jam and queuing assistance is not an autonomous vehicle unless the
system alone or in combination with other systems enables the vehicle on which the
technology is installed to drive without any control or monitoring by a human operator; and
WHEREAS, significant advances have been made in both technology and legislation
relevant to autonomous motor vehicles with numerous major companies and research
organizations developing working prototype autonomous vehicles, including Mercedes-
Benz, General Motors, Nissan, Toyota, Audi, Volvo, Oxford University, and Google, and
as of 2013, four U.S. states have passed laws permitting autonomous vehicles and such
vehicles could be available to the public in the next ten to twenty years; and
WHEREAS, autonomous vehicles could significantly reduce traffic fatalities and
crashes by reducing or eliminating driver error, which is a contributing factor in over ninety
percent of all crashes; and
WHEREAS, autonomous vehicles could reduce congestion and improve fuel
economy through better utilization of existing highway capacity and more efficient operation
of the vehicle's acceleration and braking controls. ENROLLEDHR NO. 133
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THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Department of Transportation and
Development to begin studying and testing autonomous motor vehicles.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation and
Development, as part of its study, determine the need for statutory authority or the
promulgation of regulations regarding the operation of autonomous motor vehicles on
roadways within the state.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the secretary of the Department of
Transportation and Development shall submit a report to the House Committee on
Transportation, Highways and Public Works and the Senate Committee on Transportation,
Highways and Public Works recommending legislation or regulatory action that may be
required for the safe use of autonomous vehicles prior to the final adjournment of the 2016
Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES