Contact: Eric Naing, 217-493-8294, enaing@saferoads.org
Barbara Holzer, 202-631-6080, bholzer@saferoads.org
MEDIA ALERT:
Safety, Consumer, Law Enforcement & Bicyclist Leaders, and Experts in Tech & Automation Urge Congress to Fix Major Shortcomings with Driverless Car Legislation and Not to Attach it to the FAA Bill
WHAT:
PRESS CONFERENCE CALL-IN: The U.S. Senate is expected to consider the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act (S. 1405) before the upcoming one week recess. Sponsors of the AV START Act (S. 1885) are pushing to attach their bill to the FAA bill. Safety, consumer and bicycling advocates, law enforcement, and tech and automation experts oppose this legislative maneuver which would preclude any opportunity for thorough consideration, debate and amendments to the Nation’s first driverless car, or autonomous vehicle (AV), law.
These diverse stakeholders will discuss major deficiencies in the AV START Act and call on Senators to make urgently-needed improvements to ensure safety and consumer protection. They will offer their expertise on the serious threats posed to road users if AVs are not developed and deployed in a way that assures public safety, government oversight and industry accountability.
The AV START Act would set driverless car policy for decades to come but shockingly lacks fundamental safeguards, even though the dangers of this nascent technology have been tragically demonstrated in a number of crashes and failures. Attaching this flawed legislation to the must-pass FAA bill would be disastrous for the safety of all road users.
WHEN:
Monday, July 23, 2018 at 1:30 PM EST
WHO:
Cathy Chase, President, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
Joan Claybrook, Former Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Dr. Missy Cummings, Director, Duke University’s Humans and Autonomy Lab
Dr. Mica Endsley, President, SA Technologies, Inc.; Former Chief Scientist, U.S. Air Force
Jack Gillis, Executive Director, Consumer Federation of America
Dr. Shaun Kildare, Director of Research, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
Jason Levine, Executive Director, Center for Auto Safety
J. Thomas Manger, Chief of Police, Montgomery County, MD Police Department; President, Major Cities Chiefs Association
Dr. Jeanna Matthews, Assoc. Professor of Computer Science, Clarkson University
Ken McLeod, Policy Director, League of American Bicyclists
William Wallace, Senior Policy Analyst, Consumers Union
Linda Bailey, Executive Director, National Association of City Transportation Officials (Only available at the end for Q&A)
HOW TO JOIN THE MEDIA CONFERENCE CALL
U.S. Toll Free: 800-875-3456
Canadian Toll Free: 800-648-0973
International Toll: 302-607-2001
Verbal Passcode (to be given to operator): CHASE
ELECTRONIC MEDIA KIT, will be available July 23, 2018 at 1:30 PM EST at www.saferoads.org
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