ENA Action Alert - Put the Brakes on Unproven Vehicle Technology!

Posted over 5 years ago by Karen Dillard

Put the Brakes on Unproven Vehicle Technology!

Oppose Efforts to Rush the AV START Act through Congress!

 

  • 94% of transportation-related fatalities and 99% of transportation injuries in the U.S. involve motor vehicles
  • Driverless cars, also known as "autonomous vehicles" are a new and largely unproven technology with fatal consequences
  • Since 2016, at least three people have died on America's roads due to failures in autonomous vehicle systems

As motor vehicle manufacturers clamor to lead the market in autonomous vehicle (AV) technology, special interests could put the safety of all those on the road at risk, if these vehicles are allowed to be sold without sufficient safety standards and safeguards that assure American consumers that the technologies perform consistently in the manner in which they are designed and marketed. The public safety is at stake, and lives have already been lost. While the emergence of AVs may make our roads safer for drivers and pedestrians in the future, we must take adequate steps now to ensure that these technologies are adequately tested and proven before they hit our streets.

The AV START Act (S. 1885) includes a number of provisions that put public safety and injury prevention at risk. As currently written, it would allow for millions of AVs to be sold with technologies that are exempted from current federal safety standards, including those designed to protect vehicle occupants. The bill would also delay the development and implementation of critical minimum standards related to cybersecurity, driver engagement, and AV detection of its surroundings including vehicles, pedestrians and other objects.

There is currently an effort underway to attach AV START Act to a bill to reauthorize the programs and functions of the FAA, a bill which is seen as must-pass legislation in the Senate this year. We urge you to write your senators and insist they oppose attaching the AV START Act (S. 1885) to any must-pass legislation without first making critical changes that put lives before profits. 

Send a message to your senators by clicking the link below:

http://en411.ena.org/app/write-a-letter?7&engagementId=487538&lp=0