WARD INTRODUCES BILL TO ACCELERATE TESTING OF DRIVERLESS CARS

“We need to get our show on the road”

News Release from Office of Rep Gene Ward January 24, 2018

HONOLULU, HAWAIʻI–Representative Gene Ward (R–Hawaiʻi Kai, Kalama Valley) has introduced a bill that jump-starts the testing and operation of "driverless" cars in Hawaiʻi. House Bill 2253 empowers the director of the Department of Transportation to develop an autonomous vehicle testing program by Jan. 1, 2019.

"Twenty-one states have already approved driverless vehicle testing. We need to get our show on the road, so to speak," Ward said.

"In the not-too-distant future, most cars on the road will be autonomous. Hawaiʻi needs to be at the forefront of testing, and perhaps the manufacturing, of this technology. This is an opportunity for Hawaiʻi to be an industry leader.”

The bill also establishes an approval process for applicants and mandates an annual report on progress by the Transportation Director.

In 2013, Ward was the first Hawaiʻi legislator to introduce a bill authorizing and encouraging the testing of autonomous vehicles in Hawaiʻi (HB 1461).

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PDF: HB2253