Uber Driverless-Vehicle Accident Complicates Push to Ease Rules

The House last fall passed legislation that would pre-empt regulations that some states have sought to impose on the driverless-car industry recently. The bill would also exempt driverless cars from many federal safety-equipment standards, to accommodate new designs. Instead, the bill would have regulators rely on safety certifications from the manufacturers.

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The House passed it by voice vote in September, and it was unanimously approved by the Senate Commerce Committee soon after.

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"We won't have all the facts until relevant investigations are complete, but this tragedy underscores the need to adopt laws and policies tailored for self-driving vehicles," [Sen. John Thune] said. "Congress should act to update rules, direct manufactures to address safety requirements, and enhance the technical expertise of regulators."

But even before the pedestrian was struck late Sunday, some senators had reservations about the bill, saying they were concerned that it didn't guarantee sufficient protections for drivers, passengers and pedestrians, particularly given the lack of federal safety regulations so far.

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Uber on Monday said it was temporarily pulling its self-driving cars off the roads in four cities where it is testing them, including Tempe, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Toronto. The accident in Tempe was believed to be the first pedestrian death resulting from a driverless vehicle.