| Friend ––
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are the future of the automotive industry and it’s absolutely critical that we develop, build, and deploy this game-changing technology here in the United States — especially at home in Michigan, where our auto manufacturers are the best positioned in the world to make the cars of the future.
AVs hold great promise to reduce injuries and help decrease the 40,000 deaths on our roadways each year. A federal report found that the vast majority of car crashes are caused by human error. We know that AV technology has the potential to significantly lower the number of car accidents. The lifesaving potential is enormous — and it’s important that we take steps to make our roads safer.
At an event with Axios last week, I highlighted the need to establish a federal regulatory framework — which would improve safety, increase mobility, protect national security, and boost our economic competitiveness.
Click here to watch my full remarks.
The Chinese government has made clear they’re going to do everything possible to be the world leader in AV development and production. This is a similar playbook to what they did with semiconductor chips and EV technology. China is making extensive investments in AV technology and to create a regulatory environment to position themselves to be the world leader in these new technologies. We can’t let that happen — we need to make sure that American automakers are at the forefront, because if we fail to invest significantly in the research and safe development of these technologies, we’ll lose our competitive edge — and countries like China will fill the void. The steps we take now on AVs will also determine whether good-paying jobs manufacturing AVs will come to Michigan and the U.S. or whether we could lose those jobs to China.
As Chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Maritime, Freight and Ports, I’m going to examine all possible avenues for continued development of these lifesaving technologies, while ensuring Michigan and the United States can be a global leader in AV technology – for our safety, our economic competitiveness, and our national security.
Thanks for reading,
Gary Peters
United States Senator for Michigan |
