In contrast to the modern technical wizardry of Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems (IVHS), sovereign immunity is a doctrine of common law which literally dates from the days when kings ruled. The sovereign, formerly the king or queen, is now in this country the federal, state and local government. The doctrine generally holds that the sovereign may not be sued or that the sovereign may not be held liable if it is sued. IVHS is a general name for a collection of technologies which combine developments from many fields to advance both highway and motor vehicle design. The sovereign immunity of these state and local governments for torts is an important issue for their advancement of IVHS. Highways and motor vehicles are, of course, one of the major sources of injuries to people in this country and give rise to overwhelming numbers of lawsuits. States, local governments and private parties are often held liable for their negligence or, primarily as to private parties, as a result of doctrines of strict liability. This leads to a fundamental policy issue which should be kept in view during the following discussion. While state and local governments may wish to protect themselves or their contractors from unwanted suits and tort liability, they also have an interest in providing justice to their citizens who have been injured. Any decision to utilize sovereign immunity or expand its scope to encourage IVHS development has as a counterweight the issue of reimbursing individuals who have been injured on roads or in vehicles using IVHS technologies. In the end, that is a judgment call for those who make the policy and this paper can only point out the considerations to be balanced.