New state law aims to create safety guidelines for autonomous vehicles in Texas

Updated 1 hour ago
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- You may be seeing more autonomous vehicles on the roads here in Houston, and they're making more headlines too.

In March, a Waymo car in Houston that was seen trying to go the wrong way on an HOV lane.

And in April, one was spotted driving into flood waters in San Antonio.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle have voiced their support for autonomous vehicles.

"Like it or not, they are here and will be central to the future of roadways," said Texas Senator Ted Cruz in February.



The senator made those comments at a hearing where he urged Congress to create more guardrails related to these vehicles.

"We should follow the data, which increasingly shows advanced autonomous vehicles reduce crashes and prevent serious injuries," Cruz said at the time.

It's also on the minds of state lawmakers in Texas.

Texas Senate Bill 2807, which was passed during last year's legislative session, went into effect last week.

It requires operators of autonomous vehicles to possess an authorization from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, have an on-board camera, and more.



Violators risk having their authorization amended, suspended, restricted, or revoked.

Texans are now also able to file complaints against autonomous vehicles via the Texas DMV website.

ABC13 asked the City of Houston whether it has a dashboard showing incidents involving such vehicles in the city.

Eyewitness News was told they do not, but the City of Austin does have one posted on its website.

According to the Austin dashboard, that there has been only one collision involving an autonomous vehicle in that city so far in 2026.
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