I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4661 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to clarify the preemption of State 
laws requiring a human occupant in an automated driving systems- 
equipped commercial motor vehicle, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 23, 2025 
Mr. FONG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to clarify the pre-
emption of State laws requiring a human occupant in 
an automated driving systems-equipped commercial 
motor vehicle, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Autonomous Mobility 
Ensuring Regulation, Innovation, Commerce, and Ad-
vancement Driving Reliability in Vehicle Efficiency and 
Safety Act’’ or the ‘‘AMERICA DRIVES Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PREEMPTION OF STATE LAWS REQUIRING A HUMAN 
OCCUPANT IN AN AUTOMATED DRIVING SYS-
TEMS-EQUIPPED COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHI-
CLE. 
(a) ADS-EQUIPPED COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE 
OPERATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 
311 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting after section 31139 the following: 
‘‘§ 31140. ADS-equipped commercial motor vehicle op-
eration 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A commercial motor vehicle 
equipped with a Level 4 or Level 5 ADS may be operated 
in interstate commerce without— 
‘‘(1) a human driver on board such vehicle; or 
‘‘(2) a remote human driver. 
‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Transpor-
tation shall issue regulations as necessary to implement 
this section. 
‘‘(c) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 
subsection shall be construed to require a commercial 
motor vehicle to be equipped with an ADS.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 
chapter 311 of title 49, United States Code, is 
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amended by inserting after section 31139 the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘31140. ADS-equipped commercial motor vehicle operation.’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 31132 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(12) ‘ADS-equipped vehicle’ means a motor 
vehicle equipped with an automated driving system. 
‘‘(13) ‘Automated driving system’ or ‘ADS’ 
means— 
‘‘(A) hardware and software that are col-
lectively capable of performing the entire dy-
namic driving task on a sustained basis, regard-
less of whether such hardware or software is 
limited to a specific operational design domain; 
‘‘(B) includes only systems that meet the 
definition of automation levels 3, 4, or 5 under 
SAE International’s J3016 recommended prac-
tice titled ‘Taxonomy and Definitions for Terms 
Related to Driving Automation Systems for On- 
Road Motor Vehicles’, or subsequent editions of 
J3016 adopted by the Secretary; and 
‘‘(C) does not include systems that provide 
only assistance to a human driver. 
‘‘(14) ‘Level 4’ has the meaning of that term as 
provided in the April 2021 edition of SAE Inter-
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proposed rulemaking published on May 28, 2019 (84 Fed. 
Reg. 24449) that— 
(1) amends such sections to provide for the in-
tegration of automated driving systems into commer-
cial vehicle operations, including updating any such 
sections that reasonably apply only to a human driv-
er to clarify such regulations do not apply to an 
ADS or to an ADS-equipped vehicles operating with 
an ADS engaged and without a human driver on 
board, including hours of service, drug testing, elec-
tronic logging devices, commercial driver’s license, 
and physical qualification requirements; and 
(2) define the terms remote driver and remote 
assistance as follows: 
(A) The term ‘‘remote driver’’ means a 
driver who is not seated in a position to manu-
ally exercise in-vehicle braking, accelerating, 
steering, and transmission gear selection input 
devices (if any), but is able to operate the vehi-
cle. 
(B) The term ‘‘remote assistance’’ means 
event-driven provision, by a remotely located 
human, of information or advice to an 
AD2202S-equipped vehicle in driverless oper-
ation in order to facilitate trip continuation 
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when the automated driving system encounters 
a situation where remote assistance could pro-
vide clarity. 
(b) ENSURING REGULATORY PARITY FOR COMMER-
CIAL MOTOR VEHICLES.—The Secretary may not issue a 
regulation that unduly burdens motor carriers operating 
ADS-equipped vehicles or discriminates against an ADS- 
equipped vehicle relative to other commercial motor vehi-
cles. 
(c) ENSURING
REGULATORY
FLEXIBILITY
FOR 
SAFETY TECHNOLOGIES.—Section 31113 of title 49, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and 
(e) as subsections (d), (e), and (f), respectively; and 
(2) by inserting the following after subsection 
(b): 
‘‘(c) EXCLUSION OF AUTOMATED DRIVING TECH-
NOLOGIES AND EQUIPMENT.—Width calculated under this 
section does not include automated driving system tech-
nologies or equipment.’’. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—The terms defined in section 
31132 of title 49, United States Code, apply to this sec-
tion. 
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SEC. 4. REGULATORY INTERPRETATIONS. 
Sections 392.22 and 393.95(f) of title 49, Code of 
Federal Regulations, and any related regulations shall be 
applied as if to include cab-mounted warning beacons as 
a permissible warning device, as proposed by the Exemp-
tion Application published on March 3, 2023 (88 Fed. 
Reg. 14665, Docket No. FMCSA–2023–0071). 
Æ 
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