Missouri committee hears bills to clear path for autonomous vehicles; safety, data and truck concerns surface

A House Committee on Emerging Issues held a public hearing on bills designed to allow fully autonomous vehicles to operate in Missouri, with sponsors saying the legislation would establish titling, registration, insurance and safety protocols while supporters touted potential safety and accessibility benefits.

Representative Brandon Phelps, sponsor of HB 2069, said the bill "outlines all of the regulatory framework necessary to allow autonomous vehicles to operate in the state of Missouri," including requirements for titling, registration, proof of insurance and rules for interacting with law enforcement. Phelps and other sponsors repeatedly cited industry safety data during their presentations. He told the committee that ‘‘127,000,000 passenger miles’’ logged by Waymo and related safety metrics show reduced injury-causing crashes in places where the technology is deployed.

Company witnesses from Waymo — Midwest Policy Manager Laura Daley and Director of Product David Marjanez — testified in favor of HB 2069 and HB 2208. Daley told the committee Waymo is "mapping Saint Louis" and said the company’s data show reductions in injury-causing crashes where their systems operate. Marjanez said Waymo publishes its methodology, reports collision information to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and uses fleet and incident data to improve performance. He described fallback behavior and remote operator support: when a vehicle cannot resolve a situation autonomously it will enter a "minimal risk condition," and a remote assistance team can be contacted to help the vehicle proceed safely.

Committee members pressed sponsors and Waymo representatives on several technical and policy points. Representative Fuchs asked where the "90%" crash-reduction figure came from; Phelps acknowledged many statistics are provided by operating companies and called the figures "historical data." Members also questioned how vehicles behave during unusual events — power outages, large-scale incidents or nonfunctional traffic signals — and were told vehicles treat nonfunctional intersections as four-way stops when confident, or contact remote assistance when unsure. Representatives also asked how much data the vehicles collect, how it is stored and whether companies sell that data; Waymo witnesses described privacy practices such as face blurring and data-retention policies and said they do not sell raw sensor data.

Law enforcement protocols and emergency response drew sustained interest. Committee members asked whether police need special training or equipment to interact with autonomous vehicles and how officers would identify or contact an operator at a stopped vehicle. Sponsors said operators must submit statewide law enforcement protocols to the Department of Public Safety (DPS) before vehicles are registered; vehicles would display a QR code for first responders to contact remote support and the company stated there is a phone number emergency personnel can call if the QR code fails.

Labor and first-responder witnesses testified against unconstrained deployment. Bruce Frakes, representing the Teamsters, urged caution on commercial trucking and long-haul operations, raising questions about pre-trip inspections, ongoing mechanical checks, and who would be responsible when heavy trucks travel interstate without a human driver. Tom Mullins, a firefighter, testified about recorded incidents in other cities where autonomous vehicles interfered with emergency responses and asked the committee to require robust first-responder override capabilities before broad deployment.

Other stakeholders gave mixed testimony. Disability advocates and some municipal leaders described potential accessibility and mobility benefits for people who cannot drive; chambers of commerce and some business groups framed the bills as economic-development opportunities. Insurance-industry representatives told the committee the shift to autonomous platforms raises product-liability and underwriting questions; the Missouri Insurance Coalition said the industry is monitoring the change from negligence-based auto claims toward product-liability frameworks in some cases.

The committee did not take a final vote during the hearing. Sponsors and witnesses were given time-limited testimony and the record will remain open for others to submit written comments. The committee recessed at the close of the autonomous-vehicle testimony and proceeded to a separate hearing on HB 2061 later in the session.