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Select committee opens discussion on autonomous vehicles; proposes exploratory pilot and further stakeholder outreach
Summary
The committee heard a brief presentation urging an exploratory autonomous-vehicle pilot and statutory clarity on liability and insurance. Legislators directed staff to continue outreach to industry and regulators and to consider revisiting legislation drafted in prior sessions.
The select committee discussed autonomous vehicles in a short session at the end of the meeting and agreed to continue outreach and research rather than pursue immediate legislation. David Pope, a governor’s liaison and committee presenter, urged the committee to explore an autonomous-vehicle pilot — a test the presenter called a Wyoming Autonomous Vehicle Exploratory (WAVES) project — to measure whether the state could safely deploy vehicle fleets for uses such as the state motor pool. Pope said autonomous vehicles could materially raise utilization of an existing vehicle fleet and cited the possibility that an autonomous fleet could reduce motor-pool costs and vehicle-hours driven by state employees.
Committee members said liability and insurance language will be necessary before any broad deployment and recalled prior legislative drafting work on autonomous vehicles. Several lawmakers volunteered to continue informal outreach to companies and stakeholders; the presenter said he had made initial contact with policy staff at Tesla and would pursue additional industry conversations if the committee wishes to continue. No vote was taken; the committee instructed staff to keep the issue on its radar and to pursue stakeholder engagement during the interim.
Why it matters: committee members said autonomy in road and fleet operations raises regulatory, operational and ethical questions — including liability, municipal and state road-safety interaction and wildlife/collision scenarios — that require structured study before drafting statutory language. Lawmakers expressed interest in further study and in consulting other states’ experience before drafting a new bill.
Next steps: committee staff to collect prior draft language, continue outreach to technology companies and other state agencies, and prepare options for whether to pursue a limited pilot or draft enabling legislation at a future meeting.
