CONGRESS URGED TO REVIVE LONG-STALLED DEBATE ABOUT REGULATING SELF-DRIVING VEHICLES

Advocates for the self-driving vehicle industry warned that years of regulatory inaction is putting American manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage and urged Congress to expand their ability to test and eventually sell autonomous cars and trucks

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“I’m sure it’s rare for you that someone from the private sector comes before you to ask, to plead, for their business to be regulated,” said John Bozella, president for the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents several major auto manufacturers. “We’re at a crossroads, and without a comprehensive AV framework, companies are not going to succeed.”

While most Republicans, and some Democrats, on the House Energy and Commerce Committee seemed enthusiastic about speeding up the pace of AV research and testing in America, others warned about going too fast without addressing long-standing issues of safety and liability.

Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the committee’s ranking Democrat, warned that Congress “cannot simply dust off 6-year-old legislation and ignore the substantial issues that have emerged in recent years ... Troubling safety incidents are mounting, liability loopholes are emerging.”

The legislation in question is a 2017 bill on AV regulations that passed the House but stalled in the Senate.