Senate Democrats urge crackdown on autonomous vehicles and driver assist

Two prominent Senate Democrats are calling for increased scrutiny of autonomous vehicles and advanced driver-assist systems (ADAS) like Tesla’s Autopilot, arguing that the unimpeded flow of highly automated vehicles on public roads in recent years risks exacerbating the traffic safety crisis in the US.

Automakers and tech companies say the technology can lead to safer streets. But there have been a number of high-profile incidents in recent years involving fully autonomous vehicles, as well as hundreds of crashes and dozens of fatalities in vehicles equipped with advanced driver-assist systems. The two senators, Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Ed Markey (D-MA), argue that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s regulatory authority is at risk of being outpaced by the technology.

“We cannot allow partially automated driving systems and ADS to accelerate the road safety crisis,” they write. “NHTSA must take firm control of the wheel and steer manufacturers towards prioritizing safety.”

They urge NHTSA to use its recall authority to prohibit some driver-assist features from being used on certain roads. The senators say that NHTSA missed an opportunity to put limits on Tesla’s Autopilot earlier this when it recalled the feature over concerns about drivers using it on roads where it wasn’t intended to operate.

“We remain concerned that Autopilot, and features like it in other vehicles, could lead drivers to become overconfident and distracted, putting them and other road users at risk,” Blumenthal and Markey write in a letter to NHTSA Acting Administrator Sophie Shulman. 

The senators commend NHTSA for its standing general order from 2021 requiring all automakers and technology companies to submit reports of crashes involving autonomous vehicles and vehicles equipped with ADAS. But they echo many experts in noting that the picture it presents is incomplete and should explore requiring more thorough reporting by companies.

“Like a car with only one working headlight, NHTSA isn’t seeing all the potential safety concerns facing drivers and road users, and therefore can’t take the necessary actions to protect them,” they say.

Blumenthal and Markey make several more recommendations, including latency requirements for remote operators. And they urge NHTSA to reconsider its plan to allow for the release of more vehicles without traditional controls, like steering wheels and pedals, under a new pilot program.

“Public roads are not a sandbox for manufacturers or operators to play in, and regulatory agencies like NHTSA should be highly cautious about providing lax pathways onto the road for dangerous vehicles,” they write.

Blumenthal and Markey aren’t new to this issue. The two Northeastern officials have also called for investigations into Tesla’s branding of its Level 2 driver-assist feature as Full Self-Driving.