Florida Senate - 2026                                    SB 1616
       
       
        
       By Senator Leek
       
       
       
       
       
       7-00352-26                                            20261616__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to liability of advanced driving
    3         system manufacturers and developers; creating s.
    4         768.1258, F.S.; providing legislative intent; defining
    5         the term “advanced driving system”; providing a
    6         limitation on the liability of a manufacturer or
    7         developer of an advanced driving system for certain
    8         damages, injuries, claims, or losses; providing
    9         exceptions to such limitation on liability;
   10         authorizing punitive damages only under certain
   11         circumstances; prohibiting a plaintiff from recovering
   12         punitive damages under certain circumstances;
   13         providing construction; providing an effective date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Section 768.1258, Florida Statutes, is created
   18  to read:
   19         768.1258 Liability of advanced driving system manufacturers
   20  and developers.—
   21         (1) It is the intent of the Legislature to promote
   22  innovative conduct and the safe deployment of advanced driving
   23  systems while providing reasonable certainty in the allocation
   24  of liability.
   25         (2) As used in this section, the term “advanced driving
   26  system” means any software, device, or integrated hardware
   27  software combination that, when engaged or deployed, is capable
   28  of performing specific driving tasks or functions without human
   29  intervention, with or without a human driver or human
   30  supervision, for at least part of its system operation, and that
   31  is equipped on a motor vehicle that is permitted, registered,
   32  licensed, certified, or authorized, and not otherwise
   33  prohibited, for use or operation in this state. The term
   34  includes, but is not limited to, advanced driver assistance
   35  systems as defined in s. 559.903, automated driving systems as
   36  defined in s. 316.003, and vehicle systems defined as Level 2 or
   37  greater under SAE International’s J3016 standard.
   38         (3) A manufacturer or developer of an advanced driving
   39  system, or any affiliate, subsidiary, or employee thereof, is
   40  not liable for any damages, injuries, claims, or losses alleged
   41  to have arisen from, or in relation to, the design, failure to
   42  warn, or performance of the advanced driving system under
   43  theories of strict product liability, negligence,
   44  misrepresentation, breach of warranty, or breach of contract,
   45  unless a plaintiff proves by clear and convincing evidence that:
   46         (a) The plaintiff’s harm directly arose from a known
   47  manufacturing defect in a hardware component contained within
   48  the advanced driving system;
   49         (b) The advanced driving system failed to comply with an
   50  applicable federal motor vehicle safety standard related to
   51  advanced driving systems;
   52         (c) At the time of the alleged incident, the advanced
   53  driving system was operating outside its intended operational
   54  design domain, if applicable. For purposes of this section,
   55  operational design domains do not apply to Level 1 or 2 vehicles
   56  as defined by SAE International’s J3016 standard; or
   57         (d) The manufacturer or developer engaged in fraud or
   58  intentional concealment of a known defect that presented an
   59  unreasonable risk to the safety of the plaintiff.
   60         (4)(a) Punitive damages are permitted only when the
   61  evidence supports a finding that the manufacturer or developer
   62  engaged in fraud or intentional concealment of a known defect
   63  that presented an unreasonable risk to the safety of the
   64  plaintiff.
   65         (b) A plaintiff may not recover an award of punitive
   66  damages if the manufacturer or developer establishes that the
   67  design of its advanced driving system complied with the state of
   68  the art of scientific and technical knowledge that existed at
   69  the time of manufacture in accordance with s. 768.1257.
   70         (5) This section does not limit any claim based on breach
   71  of warranty, express statutory duties, or independent acts of
   72  negligence that are unrelated to the design, manufacture,
   73  failure to warn, or performance of an advanced driving system.
   74         (6) To the extent that s. 768.1256 conflicts with this
   75  section, this section prevails.
   76         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.