The urge to deploy autonomous vehicles should not overrule existing safety regulations, a safety advocate told the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee.
During a hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 12, Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, testified that autonomous technology has not yet been perfected.
“Autonomous driving technology has made advances yet remains unable to consistently operate safely with all road users, conditions and scenarios, as evidenced by fatal and serious crashes involving passenger motor vehicles equipped with autonomous driving systems of varying levels,” Chase wrote in submitted testimony. “Further, the interest in expanding the use of this technology must not be used as a pretext to eviscerate essential safety regulations administered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and particularly in the absence of new standards to ensure the technology performs safely and as needed.”
Autonomous vehicle companies, such as Aurora, are planning to deploy driverless trucks in Texas sometime this year.
According to a AAA survey from 2024, only 9% of U.S. drivers say they trust self-driving vehicles.
“The public safety protections provided by safety standards and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations have become no less important or applicable simply because a passenger vehicle or a commercial motor vehicle has been equipped with an autonomous driving system,” Chase wrote. “In fact, additional substantial public safety concerns are presented by automated commercial motor vehicles.”
Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., asked Chase about the potential downside of autonomous vehicles.
“I want to reiterate that Advocates (is) not pro or against autonomous vehicles,” Chase said. “We just want to make sure it’s done safely. We believe the downsides are that if they are put on the roads before there are proper safeguards, it could endanger the unknowing public. People don’t necessarily know that they are next to an autonomous vehicle unless it’s obvious from the outside … Now, I think, is the perfect time for our nation to consider what our policies should be so that it’s deliberate and safe.”
One of the policies Chase suggested during the hearing was a minimum standard for an autonomous vehicle’s “vision,” noting that human drivers are subject to a vision test before they can receive a license.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., touted the advancements of autonomous technology.
“Shouldn’t encouraging the adoption of autonomous vehicle technology to more drivers, especially as the technology improves, not just be one facet of our technology policy but a major imperative?” Kiley asked.
“While I agree with you that autonomous vehicles are improving based on the research we have seen, it’s still a really small (sample) compared to the larger driving set of how much people are driving on the roads,” Chase said. “So while we see promise, we want to make sure the promises offered are delivered. We believe the way to do that is through transparency, accountability and regulation.”
Haley Norman, who was representing the American Traffic Safety Services Association, also mentioned concerns about autonomous vehicles in work zones.
“One of the things that we would like to highlight when we have conversations about AVs is that there is so much changing in work zones regularly,” Norman said. “You have lane changes throughout the day as contractors are doing their job and building the road. So, we have to make sure that all of the stakeholders are working together … to ensure that AVs and commercial AVs see our devices and our people and do not cause more harm.” LL
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