Could We Soon See Driverless Cars From Uber In Louisiana?

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You may one day have the opportunity to make a "driverless" selection when it comes to your next ride to the airport.

In an article from thehill.com, we have learned that,

Uber and Cruise LLC, a self-driving car startup owned by General Motors, have announced a partnership in which Cruise will provide Chevy Bolt self-driving vehicles to the ridesharing giant beginning next year, per a release from Cruise.

While this technology has seen its share of negative setbacks, including the death of an Arizona woman who was a pedestrian struck by a self-driving Uber vehicle in March of 2018, it would appear it's here to stay and has been given a national platform with backing from Uber and General Motors.

What States Actually Allow Self-Driving Vehicles?

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, "Twenty-nine states, including Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana have enacted legislation related to autonomous vehicles."

After a number of safety incidents, including the Arizona death of the pedestrian mentioned above, Cruise voluntarily suspended operations in Phoenix, Austin, Dallas, Houston and Miami, and recalled nearly 1,000 vehicles amidst a federal investigation.

However, looking at the Cruise website, getcruise.com, we see, "Cruise is testing in Dallas, Houston, and Phoenix. We start with trained safety drivers behind the wheel human-driven vehicles without autonomous systems engaged with a plan to transition to supervised autonomous driving in the near future."

What Does Louisiana Law Say About These Driverless Vehicles?

An article from akdlawyers.com states:

Under this law, autonomous vehicles must comply with all applicable traffic laws, carry a minimum liability insurance of two million dollars, and be properly registered. The law also applies the exact requirements to remotely operated driverless trucks.

While Louisiana has yet to specifically permit these types of autonomous taxis, one could assume that should the technology manage to jump all the safety hurdles, and unless the ongoing federal investigation would make it prohibited, it's likely that very soon, the Uber that arrives to pick you up, could be a Cruise without a driver.