House Subcommittee Takes the Lead on Self-Driving Vehicles

Members passed draft legislation that addresses autonomous vehicle safety and fostering innovation.

July 20, 2017

WASHINGTON – Yesterday in the House of Representatives, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection held a markup to advance bipartisan self-driving legislation. The subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH), says that the legislation will prioritize safety while encouraging innovation. The draft bill passed out of the subcommittee by voice vote.

Per a press release, the subcommittee says that there were more than 35,000 traffic fatalities on U.S. roadways in 2015. If 2016 estimates are confirmed, it marks the first time in almost a decade that more than 40,000 people have died in traffic accidents in a single year.

Recognizing the safety potential of self-driving vehicles and reducing traffic fatalities, the subcommittee has taken the lead in the House to draft legislation that addresses these concerns. The draft legislation provides guidance on four issues surrounding this rapidly-evolving industry: protecting consumers, fostering innovation, increasing mobility, and boosting research and development.

Speaking to the urgency in advancing this legislation, Latta relayed, “Why is all of this important? One word: Safety. We don’t have to accept a world where millions of accidents and thousands of fatalities on the roadway are a necessary evil of driving. In a nation of [more than] 320 million, each year approximately 6 million Americans are involved in vehicular accidents, resulting in nearly 2 million injuries.”

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) concluded, “For Americans to enjoy the benefits that self-driving cars have to offer, we must develop an appropriate regulatory structure that safely allows industry to innovate. We want aggressive oversight of the industry, but with the flexibility needed to test and generate the safest and most affordable technologies possible. There is an important balance we must strike, and I believe this legislation does just that.”

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