The Pennsylvania Senate Transportation Committee will soon consider Senate Bill 965 to set rules of the road for self-driving vehicles. This would cover basic topics like insurance, registration, inspection and meeting federal safety standards — just the same as you’d expect for a vehicle an individual would drive.

Passage of SB 965 would give PennDOT the ability to play a stronger role in overseeing autonomous vehicle testing and deployment. In short, SB 965 aims to ensure the continued safe development of this homegrown industry that is already creating thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania.

We applaud the work of SB 965’s author, Sen. Wayne Langerholc, R-Cambria, for collaborating with PennDOT Secretary Yasmin Gramian to write a bill that is supported by many regional leaders including Sen. Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, Sen. Wayne Fontana, D-Allegheny, Sen. Pat Stefano, R-Somerset, Sen. Devlin Robinson, R-Allegheny/?Washington, and Sen. Elder Vogel, R-Beaver.