Safely Ensuring Lives Future Deployment and Research in Vehicle Evolution Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, for yielding and for her leadership on making this happen, as well as thanking Chairman Latta, Chairman Walden, Ranking Member Pallone, and my good friend Fred Upton from Michigan.

The hard work here has gotten us to the point where we are today. The SELF DRIVE Act is going to improve our economy and save lives on the road.

Passing this bill today means we are one step closer to signing a responsible framework for the deployment of highly automated vehicles into law. It means we are going to improve mobility for seniors and people with disabilities, reduce congestion on the road, improve energy consumption, and, as everyone has said, actually improve safety on the road.

More than 35,000 people died on our roadways. And as you heard Mr. Upton say, we are hearing 40,000 self-driving cars has the promise to save lives when 90 percent of those are by human error, but only if we get it right. And that is why it is so important that we study these issues and do this the right way.

Our legislation ensures that safety is at the forefront by requiring manufacturers to submit safety assessment certifications before one self-driving vehicle hits the road. It also requires that manufacturers, for the very first time, submit a plan for how we will address both cybersecurity and data privacy. It is moving the needle forward on safety while providing a reactive and flexible framework for the regulation of self-driving cars.

Today we are one step closer to reshaping American innovation for generations to come. We cannot let this opportunity slip by us. It is essential to ensure the future of American innovation because this is fundamentally an issue of American competitiveness.

Automated vehicles are going to be developed, whether we want it or not, and it is a question about whether we are going to remain in the driver's seat and not secede it to China or India or Western Europe.

The SELF DRIVE Act steers us in the right direction on these important issues.

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