Alaska House passes bill requiring human operators in commercial autonomous vehicles

The Alaska House passed a bill requiring a human safety operator in certain commercial autonomous vehicles operating in the state. House Bill 217 moved to the Senate State Affairs Committee in mid-May 2026.

Representative Ashley Carrick, a Democrat from Anchorage, sponsored the measure. She said during floor debate that the bill provides a reasonable guardrail on specific types of transport. Carrick cited Alaska's weather and road conditions as justification for the requirement.

Industry groups and technology advocates opposed the bill. The Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, Chamber of Progress, and Kodiak AI submitted letters arguing that HB 217 would effectively ban commercial autonomous vehicle deployment in Alaska.

Kodiak AI operates a fleet of 20 fully driverless trucks in West Texas's Permian Basin. The company warned that HB 217 would make Alaska the first and only state in the nation to enact a total ban on autonomous trucks. Over 25 states, including Texas, California, Massachusetts, and Florida, have considered and rejected similar restrictions, the company noted.

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities raised concerns about the bill's framework. Benjamin Glenn, the department's emerging technologies coordinator, wrote in a May 15 letter to the Senate State Affairs Committee that the current statutory framework in HB 217 is not yet mature enough, internally coherent enough, or flexible enough to codify into law without risking unintended consequences.

The latest version of the bill appears to create an asymmetry between commercial and personal autonomous vehicle use, the department noted. The current version appears to allow certain commercial passenger autonomous vehicle operations without an onboard human safety operator while requiring a human safety operator for personal or noncommercial autonomous vehicle use, the DOT&PF letter stated.

Opponents argued that autonomous vehicles could address Alaska's transportation challenges. Chamber of Progress cited data showing that Alaska experiences more than 800 moose-vehicle collisions each year, accounting for over 20 percent of rural crashes.

Industry groups emphasized workforce impacts. Kodiak AI noted that the Alaska Trucking Association's 2025 Fast Facts identified the qualified driver shortage as the second most pressing issue facing the state's trucking industry, with annual turnover rates between 70 and 100 percent.

DOT&PF recommended that the bill receive additional legal, technical, and stakeholder review before passage. The bill awaits committee action in the Senate.