{"id":242552,"date":"2026-07-13T20:58:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T20:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/242552\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T20:58:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T20:58:15","slug":"pennsylvania-lawmaker-looks-to-restrict-autonomous-vehicles-in-public-transit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/242552\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania lawmaker looks to restrict autonomous vehicles in public transit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) \u2014 A Pennsylvania House Democrat is looking to propose a law that would create restrictions on autonomous vehicles being used in public transportation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">According to the <a data-ylk=\"slk:memo;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.palegis.us\/house\/co-sponsorship\/memo?memoID=49015\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">memo<\/a> circulated by Rep. Ben Waxman (D-182), the deployment of fully autonomous vehicles, such as buses and trucks, poses unique safety risks, which the State Representative believes should be addressed proactively.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a data-ylk=\"slk:Close;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"#sailthru-signup-widget\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Close<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Watch for us in your inbox.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Subscribe Now<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">SIGN UP NOW<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">For that reason, Rep. Waxman says he will soon introduce legislation to require any vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or greater that utilize an automated driving system to be operated with a licensed driver present inside the vehicle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">This would mean that fully automated vehicles could not be operated in public transportation without human supervision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Specifically, the lawmaker makes mention of this applying to heavy vehicles such as buses and trucks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Public transportation is too important to put in the hands of an autonomous vehicle,&#8221; the memo says. &#8220;The consequences of a technological mishap in an autonomous public transportation vehicle could be particularly catastrophic, as these vehicles carry larger volumes of passengers and operate in highly populated areas of our communities.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Rep. Waxman is now looking for co-sponsors to support this legislation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">This is a developing story. Stay with abc27 News as more information becomes available.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a data-ylk=\"slk:For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc27.com\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) \u2014 A Pennsylvania House Democrat is looking to propose a law that would create restrictions&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[29131,23040,28,30,9116,29,8596,103961,6773],"class_list":["post-242552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-autonomous-vehicles","tag-ben-waxman","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-house","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-public-transportation","tag-rep-waxman","tag-trucks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}