An Act regulating autonomous vehicles; and providing for an effective date.

SB 148 regulates autonomous vehicles in Alaska by requiring them to meet federal safety standards for public roads. It prohibits autonomous vehicles from transporting goods or passengers for commercial purposes unless used for personal noncommercial travel or with a human safety operator physically present and able to intervene. The bill establishes that the human safety operator is presumed liable for accidents involving autonomous vehicles, unless software, hardware, or vehicle modifications caused the incident, with liability progressing to modifiers, programmers, and manufacturers only after the operator. This directly affects owners, operators, and manufacturers of autonomous vehicles operating in Alaska, particularly those seeking to use such vehicles for commercial transport.