Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
Late last night, Congress released a massive government funding bill known as the “omnibus” that includes several policy riders that rollback highway safety and benefit trucking interests at the expense of the safety of families traveling on our roads and highways. These giveaways have been tacked onto a “must pass” appropriations bill – bypassing the committees of jurisdiction and evading agency review or public input.
read moreLast night’s fatal crash in Arizona, in which a pedestrian was killed by an Uber operating in autonomous mode, is a startling and tragic reminder that there are real-world consequences to putting unproven autonomous vehicles (AVs), or driverless cars, on the road without proper safeguards and oversight. Crashes like this one are precisely what we have been worried about and are the reason why we have repeatedly called on Congress to make crucial safety improvements to legislation that would open the floodgates for millions of driverless cars to be sold to the public.
read moreA coalition of organizations representing public health and safety professionals, smart growth advocates, bicyclists, pedestrians, consumers, first responders, and individuals with disabilities urged the leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee to ensure that future tragedies like exploding Takata airbags are not repeated with the mass deployment of experimental autonomous vehicles, or driverless cars. Both the Takata recall and the tragic crash late Sunday where an Uber being driven in autonomous mode struck and killed a pedestrian show what happens when vehicles are allowed on public roads without proper government safeguards and oversight.
read moreA broad coalition of state and national organizations representing public health and safety professionals, bicyclists, pedestrians, smart growth advocates, consumers, environmentalists, law enforcement, first responders, and individuals with disabilities called on U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) Secretary Elaine L. Chao to get off the sidelines and fulfill the statutory duty of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to ensure appropriate action and effective oversight for the development and deployment of autonomous vehicles, or driverless cars.
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