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A second federal safety agency has opened an investigation of an accident in which a Tesla car on “Autopilot” rammed into a parked fire truck.

WASHINGTON — Key Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee, including the panel’s chairman, expressed concern over the absence of trucking policy provisions in legislation on autonomous vehicles awaiting a vote in the Senate.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage took a step Jan. 17 toward regulating a rapidly emerging automotive technology that in the not-too-distant future could find self-driving cars, trucks and buses operating on Maine roads.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is gathering information about an accident involving a Tesla Inc. Model S sedan that rear-ended a firetruck on a freeway near Los Angeles on Jan. 22, the agency said.

Waymo, the driverless car division owned by Google’s parent company, announced Jan. 22 that it will bring its test program to metro Atlanta.

While it likely will be several more years before autonomous vehicles are common on North State roads, Interstate 5 could be a step closer to accommodating the vehicles by this spring.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, whose states have significant freight corridors, set goals to overhaul the infrastructure in their states to ensure that the goods that bolster their economy can move freely.

Infrastructure needs have emerged as a top priority for most state administrators who received the go-ahead to spend millions of dollars on repairs as well as new construction projects that range from expanding highways to fixing decrepit roads to installing Intelligent Transportation Systems.

A proposal by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to repeal a limit on the number of glider kits built annually is shaping up to be a battle pitting independent truckers and those that would reap economic benefits from more gliders against environmentalists, new truck makers and most trucking-related trade organizations.