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House advances autonomous-vehicle framework after adopting liability and safety amendments
Summary
Lawmakers adopted a committee substitute to authorize operation of fully autonomous vehicles and passed multiple floor amendments narrowing commercial deployment, adding liability provisions (waiver of personal jurisdiction for operators), limiting remote-control functions to U.S.-located licensed drivers, and adding railroad-crossing safety language.
The House advanced a committee substitute for House Bill 20-69 to create a regulatory framework for fully autonomous vehicles, approving multiple floor amendments that revise liability, jurisdiction and safety provisions.
The gentleman from Johnson, the bill sponsor, framed the legislation as an opportunity to modernize Missouri law for autonomous driving, citing safety and economic benefits. Floor amendment number 1 (offered by the gentleman from Saint Louis) requires any person taking remote control or sending driving instructions to be located in the United States and hold a valid U.S. driver's license; it also adds a waiver of personal jurisdiction for companies operating vehicles in Missouri and confirms owners and ADS providers can be held to the same standards as other drivers. The House adopted that amendment.
Subsequent amendments removed a general allowance for commercial heavy vehicles, added a public-safety amendment addressing railroad crossings, and included technical cleanup language. On the floor, members expressed support for innovation and economic opportunity but raised concerns about local control of curb space and surveillance of behavioral data collected by autonomous fleets. One lawmaker urged independent safety data beyond company-provided figures.
The committee substitute and its floor amendments were adopted and ordered perfected and printed.
