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While Barrie Kirk, the executive director of the Canadian Automated Vehicles Centre of Excellence (CAVCOE), commends the government’s efforts to study potential challenges, he says there needs to be more regulatory action now.

“When I look at what’s happening in the U.S. Congress and the Department of Transportation and that they‘re looking at federal guidelines for what the states should do, I think we need to move more quickly,” Kirk said.

“I think there have been too many studies happening, and not enough decisions being made.”

In the U.S., House Republicans are drafting regulations for autonomous vehicles. Among the drafts is the PAVE Act, a bill that would expand the number of vehicles that can be exempted from the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, from 2,500 to 100,000, a rule that currently prevents the sale of self-driving vehicles.

While automakers called for the federal government to set rules but not over-regulate, consumer advocates expressed concerns last week about adequate safety regulations before driverless vehicles hit the road. Republicans and Democrats were also divided on what the regulatory framework should look like — but it’s a step forward, said Michael Ramsey, an autonomous vehicle analyst at Gartner Inc., a technology research firm.

“I think regulations are absolutely the first challenge that needs to be solved when it comes to autonomous vehicles. It’s the primary inhibitor,” Ramsey said.