House Transportation Bill Would Allow Cab-Mounted Beacons on Disabled Trucks

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released a bipartisan surface transportation reauthorization bill earlier this week that would alter a federal safety rule for disabled commercial vehicles. The BUILD America 250 Act would allow driverless truck operators to use cab-mounted beacons instead of placing roadside warning placards.

Current federal regulations require human drivers to place those placards around stopped trucks.

Waymo's former driverless trucking division requested a waiver from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The Biden administration denied the request, and the companies challenged the denial in court. Last October, Aurora reached a settlement with the Trump administration that granted a limited waiver for cab-mounted beacons, subject to data collection and quarterly reapproval.

5405 of the bill states that cab-mounted warning beacons shall be considered permissible warning devices for a commercial motor vehicle stopped on a highway. The provision would also prevent the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration from issuing future rules that disallow such beacons.

Marc Scribner, a transportation policy analyst at the Reason Foundation, said performance standards are a poor fit for emerging driverless technologies. He described the bill's approach of allowing manufacturers to establish their own safety cases as a strong step in the right direction.

A Transportation and Infrastructure Committee markup of the 1,000-page bill is scheduled for tomorrow.