Compliance

Regulatory framework

Autonomous fleet operation sits under overlapping federal, state and local authority. Each layer is confirmed before vehicles operate.

Federal

Vehicle safety standards and any exemption process for vehicles without traditional driver controls fall to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. See our summary of the NHTSA Cybercab special order.

Kentucky — driverless operation authorised by statute

House Bill 7 of the 2024 Regular Session (Acts Chapter 176, enacted over the Governor's veto on 12 April 2024) created a comprehensive framework in KRS Chapter 186. Under Section 2(1), a person may operate a fully autonomous vehicle on Kentucky highways without a human driver provided the vehicle can reach a minimal risk condition if the automated driving system fails, can comply with traffic law, and — critically — bears the manufacturer's federal certification label showing compliance with all applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards, "including any exemptions granted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration."

The statute also requires, before driverless operation begins:

A law enforcement interaction plan filed with the Transportation Cabinet and the Kentucky State Police (§2(3)).
Proof of financial responsibility. A fully autonomous vehicle operating as a motor carrier — which a for-hire passenger fleet is — must carry $1,000,000 for death or injury per accident and $1,000,000 for property damage (§15(13)); a non-carrier autonomous vehicle needs $1,000,000 single-limit liability (§3(1)).
Title and registration identifying the vehicle as fully autonomous (§4).
A motor carrier certificate from the Department of Vehicle Regulation, with a $250 application fee, annual renewal, and background checks for passenger carriers (§13). The Act expressly brings fully autonomous vehicles within the definitions of "motor carrier vehicle" and "transportation network company vehicle" (§12).

The owner is deemed the operator and is responsible for traffic-law compliance whether or not anyone is in the vehicle (§9(6)(a)). The 62,000 lb human-driver requirement in §2(2) applies to heavy trucks and sunsets 31 July 2026; it does not reach a passenger vehicle.

Ohio — testing only

Ohio has no statute governing autonomous vehicles. Operation rests on two executive orders: 2018-04K (9 May 2018), which authorised autonomous vehicle testing on public roads subject to registration with DriveOhio and safety conditions, and 2019-26D, which reauthorised DriveOhio within the Ohio Department of Transportation.

As of 17 September 2026 the state permits fully self-driving vehicles on public roads for testing and research, with a human ready to take over in most deployments. Reporting the same week, Signal Cincinnati stated that "a full rollout of self-driving cars and trucks would require a change in state law," and quoted DriveOhio's spokesperson: "We're still a ways off from being able to remove that second driver from the driver's seat."

Until Ohio enacts a deployment framework, the Ohio side of this market — including downtown Cincinnati — is not available for driverless commercial service. Waymo began high-definition mapping of Cincinnati streets, with safety drivers, in September 2026, and has not announced a service date.

Indiana — no autonomous vehicle law

Indiana has no statute permitting autonomous vehicle operation. The Indiana Department of Transportation's connected and automated vehicles page states: "There are currently not commercially available autonomous vehicles and Indiana law does not allow for the operation of these vehicles on our roads." On legislation it says: "House Bill 1341 – Autonomous Vehicles. 2018. Introduced AV Regulatory Framework for Indiana failed to pass by deadline. No legislation since has come close to passage. Indiana currently has no AV laws on the books."

HB 1341 would have required registration with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, $5,000,000 of financial responsibility per vehicle and approval by a state task group before any testing or operation. Industry opposed it as making Indiana an "outlier"; a former NHTSA administrator testifying against it warned it would create "a Balkanized environment which is going to slow down, or possibly even impede, the deployment of these vehicles." The bill died at the 2018 deadline.

The only automation-adjacent statute is the vehicle platooning chapter, IC 9-21-22. Section 1 permits "a person" to "operate a motor vehicle as part of a vehicle platoon" where that person is licensed, the vehicle is authorised and equipped, and the platoon leader is authorised; INDOT requires a general operating plan to be filed before platooning. The chapter presupposes a person operating each vehicle and authorises nothing driverless.

As of 17 September 2026 no autonomous vehicle bill appears among the laws enacted in Indiana's 2025 or 2026 sessions. The metro's three Indiana counties — Dearborn, Franklin and Ohio — are closed to this fleet until the General Assembly acts.

Local

No Cincinnati or Hamilton County ordinance specific to autonomous vehicle or robotaxi operation was identified as of 17 September 2026. Ordinary commercial-vehicle, curb and right-of-way rules would apply on the Ohio side once state law permits deployment. In Kentucky, §8(2) of the 2024 Act preserves local authority over streets while barring any local rule that treats autonomous vehicles differently from other vehicles.

Sources — checked 17 September 2026