Amid Safety Concerns, Thune, Peters Push for Summer Self-Driving Legislation

The AV Start Act would allow automakers to sell autonomous vehicles, while setting federal regulatory standards for operating AV systems. The bill passed the Senate Commerce Committee in October (see 1710040063), but Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Conn., Ed Markey, Mass., and Dianne Feinstein, Calif., blocked S-1885’s move to the floor over safety concerns. The House unanimously passed companion legislation, the Safely Ensuring Lives Future Deployment and Research in Vehicle Evolution (Self Drive) Act (HR-3388).

“I was hoping we would get a unanimous consent agreement, just to vote on it, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen, so I think it’s going to take a legislative vehicle that we can hitch a ride on,” Thune told us (see 1805160048). “There are a couple coming up this summer that I think could present possibilities.” The FAA budget bill is one possibility, and the infrastructure bill is another, Thune said previously. “We’ll look at any other kind of vehicle bill that we could attach it to,” Peters told us, repeating his argument that the recent flurry of AV accidents means more need to legislate: “It actually creates a framework for those test vehicles.”

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is part of a coalition that pushed for better safety measurements in the legislation. President Cathy Chase warned against an “artificial rush” to move the AV Start Act and attaching the legislation to a must-pass bill, saying it would remove meaningful debate from the conversation. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are preparing to issue final determinations on some fatal accidents involving AVs, she said. NHTSA is reviewing a Florida crash involving a Tesla vehicle that killed two teenagers earlier this month, and NTSB is probing a fatal March crash and vehicle fire involving a Tesla AV near Mountain View, California. A pedestrian was struck and killed that same month by an Uber SUV in autonomous mode as she walked a bicycle across a street in Tempe, Arizona (see 1803230071). “It’s important that the Senate make a deliberative and informed decision, and without that information about crashes that are already happening, they’re at a disadvantage to say the least in deciding what should be in our nation’s first AV law,” Chase said.

Auto Alliance, representing companies like Ford, Volkswagen and Volvo, wants the bill passed “as quickly as possible, given all the potential benefits,” said a spokesman. About 94 percent of all U.S. accidents are the result of human error, and AVs have a lot of potential to remove error from the equation, he said, “opening the door to a new era of safety.” Like Peters, he said the recent accidents highlight the need to establish a national framework for testing and deploying AVs. “To get this technology to the marketplace as soon as possible, we need federal leadership here, so that’s what we’re communicating to committee and staff,” he said, noting the Auto Alliance is in discussions with bill sponsors.

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety Director-Research Shaun Kildare disputed the safety benefits. “You’re replacing human error behind the wheel with human error of coding behind the wheel," he said. "These are things that need to get fleshed out before we start putting these vehicles out there.”

Chief Technologist for tech consultant Valence Strategic, Colin McCormick, said the recent fatal accidents changed perceptions about the vehicles, but he believes AVs will make U.S. roads and highways safer in the medium to long term, even if questions linger in the short term. One issue, he said, is AV systems can improve only by traveling many miles in highly varied conditions, but now, test vehicles are allowed only on clearly defined routes in good weather. Inclement weather has been difficult for AV navigation, he said.