Relates to autonomous vehicle driving
Summary
Provides that a person may operate a fully autonomous vehicle on the public roads of this state without a human driver provided that the automated driving system is engaged and the vehicle meets certain conditions; defines terms; requires insurance and that such vehicle is registered as a fully autonomous vehicle; makes related provisions.
Bill status
in committee
1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 8, 2025
Last action May 6, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
S344A
→
S344B
·
4 edits
MODERATE
The bill was amended to add Senator C. Ryan as a sponsor and recommit the legislation to the Transportation Committee. Substantively, the definition of a 'fully autonomous vehicle' was expanded to include specific weight limits and mandatory redundancy requirements for obstacle detection, ensuring the vehicle can still avoid hazards if its primary camera system fails.
Scope change
The bill's scope regarding which vehicles qualify for autonomous operation was narrowed and clarified by adding a gross vehicle weight limit and requiring dual sensing modalities for safety redundancy.
ELIGIBILITY
Added a requirement that fully autonomous vehicles must have a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating of ten thousand pounds or less.
REQUIREMENT
Added a safety requirement that fully autonomous vehicles must be equipped with two distinct sensing modalities to detect and track obstacles if the camera system fails.
DEFINITION
Modified the definition of 'fully autonomous vehicle' to include the new weight limit and redundancy requirements, replacing the previous reference solely to SAE J3016 levels.
Changed the definition of 'Operational design domain' to remove the hyphenated phrase 'or ODD' for consistency.
Floor votes
How they voted
No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
6
Key actions
4
Committee
2
Amendments
4
May 6, 2026
Upper · Passed
PRINT NUMBER 344B
upper
May 6, 2026
Upper · Passed
AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO TRANSPORTATION
upper
Jan 7, 2026
Committee
REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION
upper
Mar 3, 2025
Upper · Passed
PRINT NUMBER 344A
upper
Mar 3, 2025
Upper · Passed
AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO TRANSPORTATION
upper
Jan 8, 2025
Committee
REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION
upper
1 primary · 3 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Ask Maddy
·
AI policy assistant
Ask Maddy about S 344
Scope: NY
Hi! I can help you understand S 344. What would you like to know?
Try one of these
i
Maddy answers using official bill text and legislative records. Always verify before sharing.
Sources cited inline