Statement of John Bozzella, Auto Innovators President and CEO: "This is great news for roadway safety. There are no other transportation safety or mobility solutions that hold as much promise to provide as many benefits to the traveling public as automated vehicle technologies.
"With this rulemaking proposal, the U.S. Department of Transportation is taking a necessary step toward reducing regulatory barriers for advanced safety technologies while preserving passenger protections. Our nation’s regulatory framework must allow for the safe testing and deployment of automated vehicle technologies, and account for the fact that manual driver controls, such as the steering wheel and brake pedal, may no longer be needed in some automated vehicles. We applaud the work of Secretary Chao and the Department of Transportation in issuing this important proposal, and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation will evaluate the proposal before submitting formal comments."