Revised AV START Act Staff Draft Lacks Meaningful Safety Improvements, Puts All Road Users in Harm’s Way
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) prepared this analysis of the revised staff draft of the AV START Act (S. 1885). Like previous versions of this legislation, the revised draft allows companies to be given excessive exemptions from federal safety standards; lacks minimum performance requirements for the “vision of driverless cars”, electronics systems, cybersecurity and driver engagement; contains language that prevents states and localities from adequately protecting their citizens; and, lacks needed government oversight and industry accountability. This flawed and deficient legislation threatens the safety of all road users and risks enabling even more crashes – likely souring an already skeptical American public on the future potential of this technology. Advocates urges Senators to oppose AV START and reject any attempt to bypass full debate by attaching it to a must-pass, end-of-session spending bill.