Statement of the Center for Auto Safety on Reintroduction of the SELF DRIVE Act

Statement of the Center for Auto Safety on Reintroduction of the SELF DRIVE Act

The cynical reintroduction of the SELF DRIVE Act shows that Congress continues to be on autopilot when it comes to autonomous vehicle technology. Not even partial credit should be given to House members who have responded to the killing of Elaine Herzberg in 2018 by an Uber test vehicle, by reintroducing a bill which previously failed to pass Congress because it did nothing to protect consumers. As a reminder, this bill contains no regulatory or testing requirements to improve public confidence in the long-term safety of driverless vehicles.

Instead, the SELF DRIVE Act protects auto manufacturers and technology companies from legal responsibility when their unregulated products put consumers at risk. Adding bad optics to bad ideas, at the exact moment when cities across America are seeing unacceptable increases in pedestrian death rates from cars, the SELF DRIVE Act prohibits cities from protecting their residents despite no federal safety requirements to fill in the void.

It is this sort of waste of time, as opposed to providing real solutions for the scourge of vehicle safety deaths and injuries on our roads every day, that has led to a public loss of confidence that Congress is interested or capable of improving the safety of all drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.

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The Center for Auto Safety was founded in 1970 and has always been based in Washington, DC. We are a member supported, independent, non-profit consumer advocacy organization dedicated to improving vehicle safety, quality, and fuel economy for all drivers, passengers, and pedestrians. Over the last 50 years, the Center has successfully led the fight for lemon laws in every state, airbags in every vehicle, and recall repairs being made at no cost to the consumer. The Center publishes TheCarBook.com, which has for the last 40 years been America’s most comprehensive car buying guide and now offers, exclusively for members, the monthly Safety TuneUp Report for regular alerts on safety issues relating to their cars. To learn more about the Center, please visit www.AutoSafety.org.