With partisan battles raging in Congress, there does seem to be a narrow area of agreement on the issue of autonomous vehicles (AVs), known more commonly as self-driving cars. The House Energy and Commerce Committee had a subcommittee hearing on the issue recently and common ground appeared to emerge. Thankfully, it seems not all issues in Congress will end up in a partisan gridlock.
When listening to the Republicans and Democrats on the committee, there seemed to be common arguments, although supported by different reasons for why the left and right can come together on this issue. Rep. Guy Bilirakis (R-FL) lamented the fact that a previous Congress passed legislation to set down some rules that would allow this technology on the roads of America that never was signed into law. Rep. Bilirakis added, “Where the United States has failed to advance a national framework that expands testing and deployment, China has unveiled a national strategy to boost testing and deployment throughout their country.” Translation: China is winning the economic war against the U.S. when it comes to deploying AVs.
China is eating our lunch in so many areas of economic competition. The United States needs to get better at setting down standards for self-driving cars, so China does not beat us in technology and American consumers end up purchasing these vehicles from China. If Congress can’t pass legislation that creates regulatory and infrastructure rules of the road for AVs to go forward, China will control the supply chain. The result is that Chinese technology will reign supreme, and an autocracy – not a western democracy – will control the market. This is one area where Congress can spur economic growth, by giving the creators and manufacturers of AVs and AV technology in America equal footing with Chinese corporations.
The Democrats on the committee stressed safety and accessibility for those who can’t drive due to physical limitations. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) expressed some concerns that need to be addressed, but also made the case that these vehicles might help with “accessibility to make sure that all Americans are able to move around in the ways they want and need to do and in ways they have not been able to do before.”
The concern about putting people out of work who drive for a living – say, commercial truck drivers – is a real one, but should not inhibit technology from advancing in the marketplace. Our economy is great in finding ways to get people employed in other areas while making it safer to get on the road. Advances in technology can’t be stopped because of a fear that there will be some employment that shifts from one area to another.
If technology can make our roads safer, Congress should take action to set down rules of the road today that will end up saving lives. Government statistics show that more than 42,000 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2022. That number is far too high. Members of both parties would agree that our roads need to be safer. If Congress can agree that self-driving cars can help, then Congress needs to pass legislation that will jump start the deployment of new AV technology.
The hearing also considered arguments for and against the SELF DRIVE Act, a bill that deals with cybersecurity, testing, and the actual deployment of these vehicles on the road. Another bill that was considered would update safety standards and regulations for self-driving cars. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently weighed in on these issues and found that there are myriad “social and economic benefits of autonomous vehicles.” With support for these bills and the underlying technology rapidly expanding, the time is now for Congress to work to get these bills passed.
Making American roads safe and open to new technology falls squarely within the federal government’s mandate of boosting the U.S. economy, securing our domestic supply chains, and weaning us off our reliance on China. Congress should pass these two good pieces of legislation before the end of the year.