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HB1168 • 2026

Motor Vehicles

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 55 and Title 65, relative to autonomous vehicles.

Taxes
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Vital, Massey
Last action
2026-03-17
Official status
Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide information on enforcement mechanisms or penalties for violations, leaving these aspects unclear.

Autonomous Vehicle Regulations

This bill changes Tennessee's laws about autonomous vehicles to require a human driver for certain types of vehicles that transport property or passengers for pay across state lines.

What This Bill Does

  • Changes the law so that some self-driving cars need a person in the driver’s seat when they are used to move things or people for money between states.
  • Requires this person to watch the car all the time, be able to take control if needed, and have a valid driver's license.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Companies that use autonomous vehicles to move goods or people across state lines for money.
  • Drivers who operate these specific types of autonomous vehicles in Tennessee.

Terms To Know

Automated Driving System (ADS)
A system that can control a vehicle without human input, allowing it to drive itself.
Interstate commerce
Business activities that involve moving goods or services between different states in the United States.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if a company violates these new rules.
  • It is unclear how this law will be enforced and who will check compliance.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Amendment 1-0 to HB1168

Plain English: The amendment requires the Tennessee advisory commission on intergovernmental relations (TACIR) to conduct a study and prepare a report about autonomous vehicles in Tennessee.

  • Adds a requirement for TACIR to study and report on the use, future use, and regulation of autonomous vehicles in Tennessee.
  • Specifies that the study must cover various aspects such as private use, commercial transportation, revenue generation, infrastructure impact, safety, employment, interstate commerce, food delivery, and hazardous waste management.
  • Requires all relevant state departments to assist TACIR with this study.
  • The amendment does not specify how the findings will be implemented or what specific recommendations might come from the report.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee

  2. 2026-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  3. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Transportation Committee for 3/17/2026

  4. 2026-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  5. 2026-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Transportation Committee

  6. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Transportation Subcommittee for 3/10/2026

  7. 2026-03-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  8. 2026-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Taken off notice for cal in s/c Transportation Subcommittee of Transportation Committee

  9. 2026-01-28 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Transportation Subcommittee for 2/3/2026

  10. 2026-01-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Meeting Canceled

  11. 2026-01-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Transportation Subcommittee for 1/27/2026

  12. 2025-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Transportation Subcommittee to First Calendar of 2026

  13. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Transportation Subcommittee for 3/11/2025

  14. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Transportation Subcommittee

  15. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Transportation Committee

  16. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Transportation and Safety Committee

  17. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  18. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  19. 2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  20. 2025-01-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Present law authorizes an automated-driving-system
-operated vehicle
to
drive or operate on streets and highways in this state with the
automated-driving-system ("AD
S"),
engaged without a human driver physically present in the vehicle if the vehicle meets
certain conditions described in law.

This bill prohibits such an
ADS-operated vehicle used to transport property for hire or compensation in interstate commerce
or to transport passengers for hire or compensation
from
driv
ing
or operat
ing
on streets and highways in this state with the ADS engaged unles
s a human driver is in the driver's seat who (i) is monitoring performance of the vehicle at all times, (ii) can i
ntervene to exercise physical control of the vehicle, if necessary, and (iii) holds a valid driver license for the type or class of vehicle being driven and the vehicle meets the conditions of present law.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SENATE BILL 310
By Massey

HOUSE BILL 1168
By Vital

HB1168
001698
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 55
and Title 65, relative to autonomous vehicles.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 55-30-103, is amended by deleting
the language "An ADS-operated vehicle may drive or operate on streets and highways in this
state with the ADS engaged without a human driver physically present" and substituting instead
the language "Except as provided in subsection (b), an ADS-operated vehicle may drive or
operate on streets and highways in this state with the ADS engaged without a human driver
physically present", and by designating the existing language as subsection (a) and adding the
following new subsection:
(b) An ADS-operated vehicle used to transport property for hire or compensation
in interstate commerce or to transport passengers for hire or compensation must not
drive or operate on streets and highways in this state with the ADS engaged unless:
(1) A human driver is in the driver's seat who:
(A) Is monitoring performance of the vehicle at all times;
(B) Can intervene to exercise physical control of the vehicle, if
necessary; and
(C) Holds a valid driver license for the type or class of vehicle
being driven; and
(2) The vehicle meets the conditions of subsection (a).
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.