Austin, TX
Texas lawmakers address lack of regulations for driverless vehicles
Texas lawmakers talk safety of driverless cars
State lawmakers are working on ways to ensure the safety of riders and drivers sharing the roadways with autonomous vehicles.
AUSTIN, Texas – State lawmakers are working on ways to ensure the safety of riders and drivers sharing the roadways with autonomous vehicles.
A Senate transportation hearing held on Wednesday addressed the lack of regulation in Texas for driverless vehicles.
“To many of our first responders communities, this is new territory for them. They are not quite sure how to handle an AV. I mean pulling over an autonomous vehicle, you know, what do you do? An autonomous vehicle in an accident, what do you do?” says District 14 Texas State Senator Sarah Eckhardt.
“One of the key things is to prepare and actually submit and have a dialogue with first responders in this first responder interaction plan,” says Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association General Council Ariel Wolf.
New safety concerns about driverless cars
There are new safety concerns about driverless cars that are on the road in Austin. Federal regulators are looking into whether Waymo’s self-driving technology is actually causing crashes.
A senate transportation hearing focused on the safety of Texans using and sharing the roadways with autonomous vehicles, as the source of transportation continues to grow across the state.
“We have had at least 17 companies that have deployed or tested on roads here in Texas. As the technology matured and evolved, we fully expected that the laws would evolve as well,” says Director of State Affairs Alliance for Automotive Innovation, Nick Steingart.
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Transportation experts presented methods to regulate autonomous vehicles and companies if safety concerns arise.
“We propose an adjustment that would allow the DMV to suspend or revoke the registration of an autonomous vehicle in certain circumstances, providing the DMV with the ability to review registrations to ensure that applicable requirements are met. The process would apply to all AV’s regardless of vehicle class or use case,” says Wolf.
“Everybody is not quite as safe as others and if somebody chooses not to be a safe provider, then the state at some point needs to be able to be in a position to step in and have a set of rules to follow that everybody understands and everybody agrees on what the rules are to start with,” says District 13 Texas State Senator Robert Nichols.
Driverless cars coming back to Austin
The self-driving car company Waymo and the ride-share service Uber are partnering up to provide rides on the same app.
In 2017, Senate Bill 2205 allowed driverless vehicles on highways. The autonomous cars are required to follow traffic laws, have a video recording device, and be insured.
Since Texas enacted its AV law seven years ago, the state has become the center of the autonomous trucking industry in the United States.
“AV companies here have established commercial partnerships with major brands,” says Wolf.
Senators also addressed concern about the economic impact driverless vehicles have on the state.
“There is a growing and expanding driver shortage and so the way the industry looks at it is proceeding in partnership with the existing workforce and being able to fill existing needs,” says Wolf.
This month, Waymo did announce a partnership with Uber set to start testing at the beginning of the year, bringing more autonomous vehicles to Austin roadways.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas’ highway system dropped two spots since 2025, and now ranks at No. 27 in the country for its cost-effectiveness and overall conditions, according to the Reason Foundation’s 2026 Highway Report.
The report assessed pavement conditions, fatalities, deficient bridges, infrastructure costs and congestion levels across the United States. Texas earned the following rankings:
- 33rd in urban interstate pavement conditions
- 21st in rural interstate pavement conditions
- 39th in urban arterial pavement conditions
- 12th in rural arterial pavement conditions
- 3rd in structurally deficient bridges
- 26th in urban fatality rate
- 42nd in rural fatality rate
- 41st in traffic congestion
“More than 42,000 of the nation’s 618,923 highway bridges, nearly 7%, are still structurally deficient. Arizona, Nevada, and Texas reported the lowest percentages of deficient bridges,” the report said.
The full report can be found online.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Small hail peppered the Austin area as strong thunderstorms moved through Saturday.
A few of the storms dropped rain and up to pea-sized hail in San Marcos, Dripping Springs and the Austin metro area.
A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for Williamson County around 8:15 p.m., and then canceled shortly after. However, it was enough for the Two Step Inn music festival in Georgetown to cancel shows for the rest of the evening. Event organizers say the festival will run as planned Sunday.
KXAN’s First Warning Weather team is monitoring the storms. We will update this post as the evening continues.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Society Sons of the American Revolution unveiled a new monument at the Texas State Cemetery on Saturday, dedicated to Texas Revolutionary War soldiers.
“We must educate every generation about why it is that America grew from a tenuous 13 colonies into the most powerful country in the history of the world,” said Governor Abbott. “This monument here is an enduring testament to the heroes who fought for the freedom that is unique to America.”
The monument was dedicated to 69 soldiers who fought in the American Revolutionary War and later settled in Texas, according to a press release.
Among those that were honored, Abbott recognized:
- José Santiago Seguín, grandfather of Texas Revolutionary hero Juan Seguín.
- Peter Sides, who fought in the 2nd Battalion of the North Carolina Regiment of the Colonial Army, and was later killed in the 1813 Battle of Medina, fighting for Mexican independence against Spain.
- Antonio Gil Y’Barbo, the founder of Nacogdoches.
- William Sparks, who fought as a mounted rifleman in the American Revolution and later settled in Texas. He had two sons and two grandsons who fought in the Texas Revolution.
“This year marks the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, which not only gave freedom to the British colonies of North America, but inspired movements for freedom and liberty all over the world,” said TSSAR President Mel Oller. “Texans played a role in the war too, and it’s important to recognize them, and the sacrifices they made for our freedom.”
At the monument unveiling, Abbott was also inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution and received its Silver Good Citizenship Medal.
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