The group notes computer-driven cars “are never drunk, distracted or drowsy – driver conditions that cause thousands of crashes.”
AVIA members includes Argo AI — backed by Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen Group — Aurora, General Motors’ Cruise unit, Ford, Lyft, TuSimple, Uber, Volvo Cars, Google affiliate Waymo and Zoox, a unit of Amazon.com.
In August, U.S. House members launched a bipartisan effort to help revive stalled legislative efforts to boost self-driving vehicles.
“We need legislation that really promotes American global competitiveness,” Farrah said.
In July, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said GM’s Cruise and Ford sought exemptions to deploy up to 2,500 self-driving vehicles annually without human controls. Those petitions are still pending.
A group representing lawyers has said it opposes “any legislation that exempts the driverless car industry from basic safety standards.”
The Transportation Trades Department for the AFL-CIO, told U.S. lawmakers in 2021 that autonomous vehicles place “millions of jobs at risk” and any self-driving legislation should not apply to commercial trucks.
