With more than 37,000 Americans dying on U.S. roadways every year, Republican leaders on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee think it’s time the committee reintroduced bipartisan self-driving vehicle legislation.
“We know self-driving technology can help drive those numbers down,” wrote U.S. Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR), Bob Latta (R-OH), and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) in a March 13 letter sent to E&C Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ). “Ninety-four percent of all traffic accidents are attributable to driver error, such as distracted driving, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or driving while tired.
“Safely automating the driving process and reducing driver error will save lives,” wrote Rep. Walden, the Republican leader on the E&C Committee, Rep. Latta, ranking member on the E&C Communications and Technology Subcommittee, and McMorris Rodgers, ranking member of the E&C Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee.
The lawmakers requested that the committee take up new legislation on the topic that mirrors legislation the E&C committee members worked on during the 115th Congress.
“We are at a critical moment in the development of self-driving technology,” Reps. Walden, Latta, and McMorris Rodgers wrote. “We have the opportunity to support life-saving technology, create mobility benefits for many communities, and support U.S. jobs and innovation against growing foreign competition. We must continue this important work in the 116th Congress.”
During the previous congressional session, the congressmen wrote, the E&C Committee worked across party lines to draft the Safely Ensuring Lives Future Deployment and Research in Vehicle Evolution (SELF DRIVE) Act, H.R. 3388, which Rep. Latta sponsored on July 25, 2017, with Reps. Walden and Pallone among the 31 cosponsors.
H.R. 3388 would establish the federal role in ensuring the safety of highly automated vehicles by encouraging their testing and deployment; would designate a “highly automated vehicle” as a motor vehicle, not a commercial vehicle, equipped with an automated driving system; would preempt states from enacting laws regarding the design, construction or performance of such vehicles or automated driving systems; and would authorize the U.S. Department of Transportation to require safety assessment certifications for the development of a highly automated vehicle or an automated driving system, among other provisions, according to the congressional record summary.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3388 and sent it to the U.S. Senate in September 2017, where it stalled in the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
“The SELF DRIVE Act was an example of this Committee at its very best: working together, across the aisle, to develop legislation that will advance life-saving technology,” the GOP committee leaders wrote in their letter to Rep. Pallone. “As a result of our deliberative, transparent and bipartisan process, the committee voted unanimously, 54 yeas and 0 nays, to report the SELF DRIVE Act to the House floor where it again passed unanimously. Unfortunately, the Senate failed to act on the bill.”
Reps. Walden, Latta, and McMorris Rodgers also cited data in their letter from the 2019 Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index, published by auditors KPMG International, showing that the United States fell from third to fourth place in KPMG’s assessment of how well countries are prepared for autonomous vehicles.
The members wrote that such international competitiveness is another reason “why it is critical for Congress to take action in order to keep investment and innovation in this technology here at home.”
Other reasons to take up a new bill this term, they wrote, include the vast benefits that could be provided by self-driving vehicles, which could “improve freedom and mobility for people with disabilities, the elderly, and those without easy access to public transportation,” according to their letter.
Additionally, if enacted, a new bill would support American jobs related to self-drive technology, wrote the congressmen.
“Self-driving technology will be transformative for those who depend on friends or family to go to the grocery store, visit family, or even a doctor appointment,” the lawmakers wrote. “We must continue to support the development and deployment of technology that increases self-reliance, improves productivity, and gives Americans the freedom to control their lives.”