Contact: Shane Austin
saustin@saferoads.org
202.425.2776
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement of Cathy Chase, President, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) on the Introduction of The AMERICA DRIVES Act and The Autonomous Vehicle Acceleration Act of 2025
July 25, 2025 | Yesterday, the Autonomous Mobility Ensuring Regulation, Innovation, Commerce, and Advancement Driving Reliability in Vehicle Efficiency and Safety (AMERICA DRIVES) Act was introduced by U.S. Representative Vince Fong (R-CA). This legislation would allow interstate operations of large trucks without a driver or remote operator, also referred to as autonomous commercial motor vehicles (ACMVs). The bill lacks needed safeguards to the danger and detriment of the traveling public. Currently, there are no safety regulations for automated driving systems (ADS), leaving recall authority granted to the Department of Transportation (DOT) as the recourse. With ACMV weights being up to 80,000 pounds on federal roads, any malfunction or failure of the self driving systems could lead to catastrophic consequences. Some specific anti-safety provisions in the legislation include:
- Preempting state laws requiring human drivers or remote operators in SAE Level 4/Level 5 ACMVs.
- Unnecessarily restricting the Secretary of Transportation from issuing safety regulations for ACMVs.
- Directing the Secretary of Transportation to review regulations and applicability on ACMVs and initiate changes to facilitate their operations without ensuring consideration of impacts on safety.
- Allowing ADS technologies and equipment to exceed federal truck width limitations without review, analysis or consideration of implications to safety.
- Eliminating the requirement that drivers place warning triangles for ACMVs during an emergency. More research needs to be done on the safety impact of cab mounted beacons before they replace this requirement.
Additionally, the Autonomous Vehicle Acceleration Act of 2025 (S. 1798), introduced by U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) in May, would permit mass deployment of driverless cars, also known as autonomous vehicles (AVs), in the absence of needed safeguards and regulations. Among other provisions, the legislation directs the U.S. Department of Transportation to review and potentially change current Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), including for occupant protection. Weakening current FMVSS without establishing safeguards for self driving systems and related issues, including cybersecurity, is a recipe for disaster for all those traveling on public roads.
Instead, Advocates and our safety partners recommend a people-and-safety-first approach to AV development and deployment, the AV Tenets. While AVs may one day fulfill the many promises offered by their proponents, safety must take precedence over a rush-to-market approach.
Safety Facts:
- In 2023, 5,472 people were killed and more than 153,000 were injured in crashes involving large trucks.
- On average, 112 people were killed every day on roads in the U.S., totaling nearly 41,000 fatalities in 2023.
- This is a 24 percent increase in deaths in just a decade.
- An additional 2.44 million people were injured.
- Early projections for 2024 traffic fatalities remain at a similar historic high level; over 39,000 people are estimated to have been killed that year.
- According to data collected by NHTSA’s Standing General Order (SGO) 2021-1 requiring manufacturers to report certain crashes involving vehicles equipped with ADS or SAE Level 2 ADAS, there have been approximately 1,478 crashes involving ADS and 2,681 with ADAS.
- These include 52 crashes resulting in a fatality.
For more information on these and other motor vehicle safety issues, please review our recent hearing testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade.
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About Advocates
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is an alliance of consumer, medical, public health, law enforcement and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working together to make America’s roads safer. Advocates’ mission is the adoption of federal and state laws, policies and programs that prevent motor vehicle crashes, save lives, reduce injuries, and contain costs.