Iowa Bill Requires Self-Driving Cars To Have Human Drivers

Iowa might crack down on autonomous cars.

The legislative session is rolling on (pun intended) and multiple new bills are being introduced in Iowa. One is to help lure the Chicago Bears football team to Iowa, another would absorb certain Illinois counties into Iowa, and another would impact bicyclists being allowed on certain roads.

There's another traffic safety bill in the works.

This week, Iowa lawmakers advanced 2 bills that would require some adjustments to self-driving cars.

First: House Study Bill 598 assigns liability to the self-driving car's owner if the car gets into a wreck or has a traffic violation. It also wouldn't let an autonomous car transport "hazardous material" without a human driver. Lawmakers said the language of this bill needed some work but ultimately decided to advance it.

The other bill kind of expands on that last point. House File 2375 would require a licensed, "conventional human driver" to be present in cars that are capable of self-driving anytime the car is operating in a "commercial capacity".

Uber registered as undecided on both bills but General Motors registered against the first bill.

Automotive industry reps mostly opposed the bill on the grounds that it could prohibit situations like a self-driving car helping someone get to somewhere like the airport. Trial lawyers and labor unions backed the bills, arguing that the language in them could help protect Iowans with the technology.

Now, the bills must advance from the House Transportation Committee by Friday, ahead of the legislature's self-imposed deadline.