AV Emergency Response Coordination Act
Sponsored By: Representative Mullin, Kevin [D-CA-15]
Introduced
Summary
Standardize coordination between autonomous vehicle operators and emergency responders to make crash response, hazard control, and investigations faster and safer. This bill would require makers and operators to provide uniform emergency response guides, rescue sheets, dedicated hotlines, and clear geofence and data-preservation procedures under rules set by the NHTSA Administrator.
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- Emergency responders: Would get standardized guides and rescue sheets that explain how to check vehicle status, extricate or communicate with occupants, and call a dedicated hotline. They would also be able to issue geofence notices that direct vehicles to avoid an area for up to 72 hours.
- Manufacturers and operators: Would have to submit those guides before operations and after updates, follow a uniform format, maintain rapid-response hotlines, comply with geofence orders, and enable communication with remote human personnel for vehicle control.
- Public authorities and the public: Guides and rescue sheets would be disclosed to local responders and held in a public, mobile-friendly repository so agencies and communities can access emergency procedures.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 3 mixed.
Geofence notices and compliance
This bill would let first responders or government agencies issue a geofence notice asking covered vehicles to avoid a geographic area for up to 72 hours. NHTSA would publish a rule within 180 days on how agencies must send these notices and how covered entities must receive them. Beginning not later than 180 days after enactment, covered entities would have to comply with a notice within two minutes or follow the agency process, and a vehicle could still operate only to remove itself from the area if needed.
Responder guides and hotline rules
This bill would require covered vehicle makers and operators to file a standard emergency response guide and a short rescue sheet with NHTSA. Submissions would be due no later than 180 days after enactment or before a vehicle operates, and material updates would be sent 30 days before the change or immediately if the change creates an unreasonable safety risk. NHTSA would post each guide within 10 days and entities would give updated guides to local responders within 5 days. The bill would also require a 24/7 responder hotline within 90 days, calls answered within 30 seconds, and would direct NHTSA to write minimum standards within two years that entities must meet within one year.
Who is covered and enforcement
This bill would add definitions for automated driving system (Levels 3–5), covered vehicle, covered entity, unplanned stoppage event, and vulnerable road user. When compliance by multiple covered entities would be materially duplicative, only one entity would have to perform the duplicative work, but each would remain responsible for overall compliance. The bill would also add these parts of the Act to an existing federal enforcement citation so the Administrator could enforce them.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Mullin, Kevin [D-CA-15]
CA • D
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov