McMorris Rodgers on Senate autonomous vehicle hearing: We must act now

Statement

Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Republican Leader on the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, released the following statement ahead of tomorrow's Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing titled, "Highly Automated Vehicles: Federal Perspectives on the Deployment of Safety Technology."

"Every year, we lose more than 37,000 lives on our roads--the equivalent to more than three commercial jets falling out of the sky every week," said McMorris Rodgers. "Technology offers us a solution, and I'm encouraged to see the Senate hold a hearing tomorrow on self-driving vehicles. Not only do self-driving cars promise to save lives, they will also restore independence for people with disabilities and seniors and reduce congestion on our roads. In order to unleash this innovation here in the U.S., we need forward-thinking and thoughtful policy. We must build off the great work we did last Congress with the SELF DRIVE Act and clarify federal and state roles to ensure NHTSA remains the sole safety regulator. We need to modernize the exemption process so developers can innovate and push NHTSA to develop new self-driving car safety standards. America needs legislation built on these core concepts, or else we risk falling behind the rest of the world and seeing the benefits of self-driving vehicles go elsewhere. To win the future and beat China, we must act now."

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