The governor of Texas has signed a bill regulating self-driving cars ahead of Tesla’s planned launch of its robo-taxi service, Reuters reported on the 22nd.According to the report, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill regulating self-driving cars on the 20th that includes provisions requiring state permits for the operation of self-driving cars.
The law, which will take effect on September 1, requires state approval before self-driving cars can be operated on public roads, and allows permits to be revoked if the vehicles are deemed to endanger the public. It also defines autonomous vehicles as vehicles with ‘level 4′ autonomous driving functions that can drive themselves without a human driver in certain conditions such as limited areas and requires companies to prove that they can operate them safely.
This law is considered much simpler than California’s law, which requires extensive submission of autonomous driving test data to obtain a driving permit. However, Reuters analysed that it is interpreted as a cautious signal about easing robotaxi operation, as it is different from Texas’ anti-regulatory stance that it has maintained so far.
Texas prohibited the regulation of autonomous vehicle operation at the city level through a 2017 law. Earlier, seven Democratic state legislators in Texas requested Tesla to postpone the launch date of its robotaxi on the 18th.Tesla announced that it will launch its robotaxi in Austin, Texas starting that day.
There is speculation that Texas, which has maintained a very lax policy on autonomous vehicles, may act as a burden on Tesla’s full-scale launch of robotaxi as it clarifies the management and supervision of autonomous vehicle operation and safety issues.