WHEREAS, at least one major corporation is experimenting with—and road-testing—driverless vehicles capable of transporting persons on public highways without manual intervention; and

WHEREAS, these vehicles use a combination of radar/lidar, global positioning, digital video, and other state-of-the-art technologies to control the vehicle without human intervention; and

WHEREAS, such vehicles may be marketed to the general public by 2017 or earlier; and

WHEREAS, as these driverless vehicles proliferate, serious traffic safety implications will arise if any vehicle component fails and no human driver is present to assume control of the vehicle; and

WHEREAS, driverless vehicle technology is new and emerging, and public safety concerns—such as the ability of driverless vehicles to respond to temporarily reduced speed zones, to hazardous weather conditions, to approaching emergency vehicles, to be deployed as incendiary devices, and to have the computers controlling their operation compromised via hackers—must be addressed during the development of such technology; and

WHEREAS, few states currently have statutes controlling the road testing and ultimate public sale and use of these vehicles on public streets and highways; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police, duly assembled at its 119th Annual Conference in San Diego, California, urges its state and provincial, local, and tribal members to coordinate with highway safety officials; governors, mayors, and other political leaders; and legislators in securing passage of legislation to regulate the testing and eventual operation of these vehicles on public roadways, including the requirement for the presence of a licensed human driver; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this resolution be forwarded to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials, Federal Highway Administration, Governors Highway Safety Association, National Conference of State Legislatures, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Sheriffs' Association, and Transport Canada.

Submitted by: Highway Safety Committee
HSC.026.a12