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HF3810 • 2026

Natural person required to be present when a commercial motor vehicle is operated by an automated driving system, and criminal penalties established.

Natural person required to be present when a commercial motor vehicle is operated by an automated driving system, and criminal penalties established.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Schultz, Sencer-Mura, Wiener, Luger-Nikolai, Skraba, Gottfried, Lillie, Mekeland, Rehrauer
Last action
2026-03-12
Official status
Authors added Mekeland and Rehrauer
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The plain English breakdown is still being put together. The official documents below are already here.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-12 House

    Authors added Mekeland and Rehrauer

  2. 2026-02-26 House

    Introduction and first reading, referred to Transportation Finance and Policy

Official Summary Text

Natural person required to be present when a commercial motor vehicle is operated by an automated driving system, and criminal penalties established.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
A bill for an act

relating to transportation; requiring a natural person to be present when a

commercial motor vehicle is operated by an automated driving system; establishing

criminal penalties; amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 169.011, by adding

subdivisions; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 169.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 169.011, is amended by adding a subdivision

to read:

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Subd. 3b.

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Automated driving system.

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"Automated driving system" means hardware

and software that are collectively capable of performing all aspects of the dynamic driving

task for a vehicle on a part-time or full-time basis, described as levels 4 and 5 automation

in SAE International standard J3016, as revised in April 2021.

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Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 169.011, is amended by adding a subdivision to

read:

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Subd. 24a.

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Dynamic driving task.

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(a) "Dynamic driving task" means all of the following

aspects of driving:

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(1) operational aspects, including steering, braking, accelerating, and monitoring the

vehicle and the roadway; and

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(2) tactical aspects, including responding to events, determining when to change lanes,

turning, using signals, and other related actions.

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(b) Dynamic driving task does not include strategic aspects, including determining

destinations or way points of driving.

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Sec. 3.

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[169.763] AUTOMATED DRIVING SYSTEMS IN COMMERCIAL MOTOR

VEHICLES.

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Subdivision 1.

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Definition.

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For the purposes of this section, "commercial motor vehicle"

has the meaning provided in Code of Federal Regulations, title 49, section 390.5.

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Subd. 2.

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Restrictions.

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(a) A person must not use an automated driving system to perform

the dynamic driving task in a commercial motor vehicle unless a natural person who is

properly licensed to operate the vehicle:

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(1) is physically present in the commercial motor vehicle;

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(2) is seated in the driver's seat of the commercial motor vehicle;

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(3) monitors the performance of the commercial motor vehicle while driving on the

roadway; and

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(4) intervenes, if necessary, to avoid illegal or unsafe driving of the commercial motor

vehicle.

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(b) The owner or lessor of a commercial motor vehicle operated in violation of this

section is guilty of a misdemeanor for the first offense and a gross misdemeanor for any

subsequent offense committed by the same owner or lessor regardless of whether the offense

is committed with a different commercial motor vehicle owned or leased by the same person.

The penalty for the second conviction for violating this section is $2,000, and the penalty

doubles for each subsequent conviction.

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