(a) No political subdivision may by ordinance, resolution, or any other means prohibit within the jurisdictional boundaries of the political subdivision the use of a motor vehicle equipped with autonomous technology if the motor vehicle otherwise complies with all safety regulations of the political subdivision.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 55-8-202

  • Driver: means :
    (A) For purposes of a conventionally operated vehicle, every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Dynamic driving task: means all of the real-time operational and tactical functions required to operate a vehicle in on-road traffic. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Minimal risk condition: means a low-risk operating mode in which an ADS-operated vehicle when the ADS is engaged achieves a reasonably safe state upon experiencing a failure of the vehicle's ADS that renders the vehicle unable to perform the entire dynamic driving task. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Operator: means :
    (A) For purposes of a conventionally operated vehicle, every person, other than a chauffeur, who drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle upon a highway or who is exercising control over or steering a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Roadway: means that portion of a highway improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the berm or shoulder. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances either singly or together while using any highway for purposes of travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Vehicle: means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
(b)

(1) “Autonomous technology” means technology installed on a motor vehicle that has the capability to drive the vehicle on which the technology is installed in high or full automation mode, without any supervision by a human operator, with specific driving mode performance by the automated driving system of all aspects of the dynamic driving task that can be managed by a human driver, including the ability to automatically bring the motor vehicle into a minimal risk condition in the event of a critical vehicle or system failure or other emergency event;
(2) “Driving mode” means a type of driving scenario with characteristic dynamic driving task requirements including, but not limited to, the following:

(A) Expressway merging;
(B) High speed cruising;
(C) Low speed traffic jam; and
(D) Closed-campus operations;
(3) “Dynamic driving task” means the operational and tactical aspects of the driving task, but does not include the strategic aspect of the driving task;
(4) “Operational” means steering, braking, accelerating, and monitoring the vehicle and roadway;
(5) “Strategic” means determining destinations and waypoints; and
(6) “Tactical” includes, but is not limited to, the following:

(A) Responding to events; and
(B) Determining when to change lanes, turn, or use signals.
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