MEMA Applauds Advance of Self-Driving Vehicle Technology Bill

On October 4, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation unanimously approved S. 1885, The American Vision for Safer Transportation through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies (AV START) Act. MEMA has been a leading organization supporting the AV START Act, which is critical to removing barriers to the safe development and deployment of self-driving vehicle technologies. Suppliers are at the forefront of automated vehicle technology innovations that will improve vehicle safety, reduce collisions, save lives, and increase mobility. 

MEMA applauds all the work that Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senator Gary Peters (D-Mich.) have put into this bipartisan bill and will continue to work with members of the Committee as the bill is considered by the full Senate. The legislation includes language that establishes a balance between federal and state laws affecting self-driving vehicles. The bill also addresses testing for automated vehicles and timelines for federal regulators to collect data to establish future standards.

In its ongoing efforts to advance policies that support the adoption and deployment of automated vehicles in the U.S., MEMA worked closely with House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection Chairman Bob Latta (R-Ohio) on their version of automated vehicle legislation that passed the House in September. In that effort, MEMA promoted two key priorities for vehicle suppliers: 1) legislative language affirming the ability of suppliers to test and evaluate automated systems and vehicles on public roadways, and 2) legislative language drawing a clear distinction between federal and state roles in regulating automated vehicles.

This summer, MEMA submitted statements to the House Digital and Consumer Protection Subcommittee and Senate Commerce Committee outlining MEMA’s priorities for automated vehicle legislation. In addition, MEMA is part of the Coalition for Future Mobility, which has called on Congress to take action that will make automated vehicles a reality. The Coalition recently penned an “open letter to Congress” on the importance of legislation that fosters the continued growth of highly automated vehicles (HAVs).