You may be seeing more autonomous vehicles on the roads here in Houston, and they’re making more headlines too.<\/p>\n
In March, a Waymo car in Houston that was seen trying to go the wrong way on an HOV lane<\/a>.<\/p>\n And in April, one was spotted driving into flood waters<\/a> in San Antonio.<\/p>\n Politicians on both sides of the aisle have voiced their support for autonomous vehicles.<\/p>\n “Like it or not, they are here and will be central to the future of roadways,” said Texas Senator Ted Cruz in February.<\/p>\n The senator made those comments at a hearing where he urged Congress to create more guardrails related to these vehicles.<\/p>\n “We should follow the data, which increasingly shows advanced autonomous vehicles reduce crashes and prevent serious injuries,” Cruz said at the time.<\/p>\n It’s also on the minds of state lawmakers in Texas.<\/p>\n Texas Senate Bill 2807, which was passed during last year’s legislative session, went into effect last week.<\/p>\n It requires operators of autonomous vehicles<\/a> to possess an authorization from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, have an on-board camera, and more.<\/p>\n Violators risk having their authorization amended, suspended, restricted, or revoked.<\/p>\n