---
title: "First Ever US Legislation on Self-Driving Cars Comes to the House"
description: "US lawmakers vote this week on a proposal to allow automakers to get up to 100,000 self-driving vehicles on the road without additional state-level regulation."
date: "2017-07-19"
modified: "2017-07-19"
authors:
  - name: "Karla Lant"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/karla"
url: "https://futurism.com/first-ever-us-legislation-on-self-driving-cars-comes-to-the-house"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
  - "Self-Driving Vehicles"
tags:
  - "public safety"
  - "regulations"
  - "self driving technologies"
  - "Self-driving cars"
---

# First Ever US Legislation on Self-Driving Cars Comes to the House

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/ptt-bg.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: \<a href="https://waymo.com/journey/paint-the-town/" target="\_blank"\>Waymo\</a\>\</em\>*

A U.S. House panel will vote this Wednesday, July 19 on a proposal to allow automakers to release [up to 100,000 self-driving vehicles](<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-selfdriving-idUSKBN1A308C?il=0>) onto the road. The measure would allow automakers to sell self-driving cars that have been proven to "function as intended and contain fail safe features" without being burdened by either additional driverless car rules at the state level or a duty to meet existing auto safety standards.

The move, if it is successful, will be the first major federal legislation designed to hasten self-driving cars to market. It would not require pre-market approval of self-driving technologies, although it would require automakers to submit safety assessment reports to federal regulators.

![Image Credit: Grendelkhan/Wiki Commons](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/self-driver.jpg>)
*Image Credit: Grendelkhan/Wiki Commons*

In other words, the technology would need to be proven safe initially through safety reports, but self-driving cars would not be lost in a thicket of state regulations. States could also still set rules on insurance, liability, licensing, registration, and safety inspections, but could not individually set performance standards for self-driving cars.This proposal is a recognition of the [urgency of getting](<https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/09/self-driving-cars-could-save-300000-lives-per-decade-in-america/407956/>) self-driving cars on our roads. US road deaths rose to 35,200 in 2015, a whopping 7.7 percent higher than the previous year, the biggest jump in a single year since 1966. Self-driving cars [will save lives](<https://futurism.com/governments-are-investing-in-self-driving-cars-because-they-will-save-lives>), as [experts acknowledge](<https://futurism.com/neil-degrasse-tyson-self-driving-cars-will-save-lives>), and this is the underlying motivation of the measure.

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlalant>)  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/KarlaLant>)