And that same committee hearing today, there was a lot of discussion about autonomous vehicles.

Representative Josh Brey of Mt.

Vernon is the sponsor of House Bill 135.

It would establish a regulatory framework to allow self-driving cars, trucks and semis on Kentucky's public highways.

Ariel Wolf, General counsel for the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, was at today's committee meeting to testify in favor of the bill, and committee members had a lot of questions for him.

Some questions were about safety.

Others were about legal issues.

The overwhelming contributor to collisions, accidents, fatalities and injuries in the roadways is human impairment in all forms intoxication, distraction, fatigue, etc.. Human impairment is is responsible for that.

And autonomous vehicles fundamentally will improve safety.

In the event that one of these autonomous vehicles, which I understand are substantially better technology than even Tesla self-driving vehicles if they were carrying a controlled substance, for instance, a narcotics delivery, you know, interstate trafficking in people, who is liable for that crime if there's no driver to arrest?

Thank you, Representative, and excellent question on that.

The way the bill would work and the way generally the frameworks would work is we proceed exactly.

The inquiry would be exactly as it would simply without a driver present.

So the examination of the facts would would yield the determination as to whether the owner of the autonomous vehicle was responsible for that, or if in some some case those substances were put on without knowledge, then presumably that would proceed that way and simply just would not have a driver as part of the inquiry.

There.

House Bill 135 passed out of committee and now awaits action by the full House.