Sponsored by:
Senator NELLIE POU
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes permitting process for testing highly automated vehicles in NJ; establishes Highly Automated Vehicle Interagency Advisory Committee.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning highly automated vehicles and supplementing Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
Automated driving system means the hardware and software that are collectively capable of performing all aspects of the dynamic driving task within its specific operational design domain, if any.
Commission means the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.
Committee means the Highly Automated Vehicle Interagency Advisory Committee established pursuant to section 3 of P.L. , c, (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
Dynamic driving task means the operational aspects of driving a motor vehicle and the tactical aspects of driving a motor vehicle, but not the strategic aspects of the driving task.
Highly automated vehicle means a motor vehicle equipped with an automated driving system capable of performing all aspects of the dynamic driving task within its operational design domain, if any, including achieving a minimal risk condition, without any intervention or supervision by a conventional human driver.
Highly automated vehicle tester means any natural person, firm, co-partnership, association, or corporation that has received a permit from the commission authorizing the natural person, firm, co-partnership, association, or corporation to test highly automated vehicles on public roadways in New Jersey.
Highly automated vehicle testing permit means a letter issued and signed by the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission granting a highly automated vehicle tester permission to test highly automated vehicles on New Jersey public roadways in a manner consistent with the information presented in the permit application and any conditions imposed as part of the permitting process.
Minimal risk condition means an operating mode where an automated driving system brings a highly automated vehicle to a safe stop or safe operating condition because of an automated driving system malfunction, a failed request for a safety driver to intervene, or other occurrence that prohibits the automated driving system from fully and completely performing the dynamic driving task.
Operational aspects of driving a vehicle include but are not limited to steering, braking, accelerating, monitoring the vehicle, and monitoring the roadway.
Operational design domain means the definition of the conditions in which the automated driving system, or the differing automated components thereof, is intended to operate with respect to public road types, geographical location, speed, range, lighting conditions for operation, weather conditions, and other operational domain constraints, including a description of how the automated driving system provides for object and event detection and response under normal driving scenarios, expected hazards, and unspecified events that could occur within the operational domain.
State means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States.
Strategic aspect of the driving task includes but is not limited to determining destinations and waypoints,
Tactical aspects of driving a vehicle include but are not limited to responding to events on the roadway and determining when to change lanes, turn, and use signals.
Test means the operation of a highly automated vehicle on public roadways for the purpose of assessing, demonstrating, and validating the highly automated vehicle s capabilities.
2. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, rule, regulation, or order to the contrary, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission shall establish a procedure for the application for and issuance of a highly automated vehicle testing permit to test highly automated vehicles on public roadways in the State. The commission shall consult the Highly Automated Vehicle Interagency Advisory Committee established pursuant to section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) in determining whether to approve or deny an application for a highly automated vehicle testing permit.
b. A person or entity shall not test or operate highly automated vehicles on public roadways in this State unless the person or entity has received and maintains a valid highly automated vehicle testing permit from the commission.
c. The commission shall issue
a highly automated vehicle testing permit to a highly automated vehicle tester
that holds valid approval from another state to test highly automated vehicles
in that state. The commission shall issue a highly automated vehicle testing
permit pursuant to this subsection only if the standards and requirements to
test highly automated vehicles in the other state are similar to the standards
and requirements established by the commission to test highly automated
vehicles in this State, as determined by the commission in consultation with
the Highly Automated Vehicle Interagency Advisory Committee established
pursuant to section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the
Legislature as this bill).
3. a. There is established in, but not of, the Department of Transportation, a Highly Automated Vehicle Interagency Advisory Committee for the purpose of encouraging the safe testing of highly automated vehicles in this State by fostering collaboration between State government and stakeholders and promoting public acceptance of highly automated vehicles, which shall consist of 13 voting members as follows:
(1) the Commissioner of Transportation, ex officio, or the commissioner s designated representative;
(2) the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, ex officio, or the chief administrator s designated representative;
(3) the Director of the Division of Highway Traffic Safety in the Department of Law and Public Safety, ex officio, or the director s designated representative;
(4) the Commissioner of the Department of Human Services, ex officio, or the commissioner s designated representative;
(5) the Executive Director of the New Jersey Transit Corporation, ex officio, or the executive director s designated representative;
(6) the Commissioner of the Department of Banking and Insurance, ex officio, or the commissioner s designated representative;
(7) the Superintendent of the Division of State P