Press Releases

Opening remarks, as prepared, of Subcommittee on Highways and Transit Ranking Member Rodney Davis (R-IL) from today’s hearing entitled, “The Road Ahead for Automated Vehicles (AVs)”:

AVs offer the opportunity to not only transform the automotive, trucking, and transit industries, but it will also transform our Nation as a whole and solve many of the challenges we face.

As you know, this subcommittee has jurisdiction over large trucks and buses.  Employing automated technologies on trucks and buses will have economic and societal implications which will benefit every American. 

Most importantly, incorporating this new technology will save lives.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 38,680 people died in motor vehicle accidents in 2020 and expects fatalities to increase in 2021.  According to the Department of Transportation, 94 percent of serious crashes are due to driver error.  Because AVs are expected to anticipate dangers and mitigate or remove human error from the chain of events that lead to a crash, AV technology would increase safety and save lives.

In addition, AVs could revolutionize mobility and make the transport of goods and people easier, cheaper, more efficient, and more accessible.  AV technology could improve mobility for vulnerable groups, including the elderly and those with disabilities, connecting them with jobs and services and allowing them to live independently.  In addition, the resulting freight transportation efficiencies could reduce the cost of goods for consumers, and in the longer term, provide solutions to some of the supply chain bottlenecks we are experiencing today.

While these benefits are compelling, we must recognize the potential impacts AVs could have on our workforce and implement pro-worker policies.  Because AV deployment may lead to fewer professional driving jobs, we need to incorporate employee development and training programs to upskill our workforce so they can take advantage of new jobs that AVs will create.

Today, transit agencies and trucking companies are partnering with technology firms to test AVs.  Our future depends on what we do now. We need to have a clear regulatory structure in place to continue to support AV innovations and deployment.  We need to take the steps necessary to ensure that America cements its leadership in the AV space.

With that, I want to thank our witnesses for joining us today, and I look forward to hearing their testimony.

Click here for more information, including live video and witness testimony.