Stay in Your Lane Act

Summary#

This bill adds a new section (30130) to title 49 of the U.S. Code about driving automation systems. It defines key terms such as "driving automation system," "operational design domain" (ODD), and what "safely" means. The bill requires each manufacturer to ensure its driving automation system does not operate outside the system's defined ODD. Manufacturers must define their system's ODD, submit that definition to the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and post the exact declaration on a publicly accessible manufacturer website. The bill also updates civil penalty authority to cover violations of the new restriction and adjusts the definition of "motor vehicle safety standard" to include the new requirements. The Act takes effect 180 days after enactment.

What it means for you#

• Manufacturers must state the specific conditions (for example, weather, geography, time of day, or roadway features) under which their automated driving systems are designed to work and must keep the systems from running outside those conditions.
• Those declarations must be sent to NHTSA and published on the manufacturer's public website, so the public can see where a system is intended to operate.
• NHTSA can enforce the requirement through civil penalties if a system operates outside its declared ODD.

Expenses#

No publicly available information on estimated federal costs or on the bill's estimated costs to manufacturers or other parties. The bill does add civil-penalty authority for violations but does not specify penalty amounts in the text provided.

Proponents' View#

The bill's sponsors introduced it to address safety of driving automation systems by requiring manufacturers to define where their systems are designed to operate and to prevent operation outside those defined conditions. The bill also requires public posting of those definitions and gives NHTSA enforcement authority.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.