WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Russ Fulcher (ID-01), Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, led a hearing titled Looking Under the Hood: The State of NHTSA and Motor Vehicle Safety.

“Today’s hearing marks the beginning of a bipartisan, member-driven, and stakeholder-informed process to develop a motor vehicle safety title as part of Congress’s broader efforts to reauthorize our surface transportation programs. [...] NHTSA plays a central role in addressing this pressing issue through its education campaigns, regulatory work, and enforcement efforts. Congress must ensure that the agency is equipped needed to fulfill its mission and save lives.” said Vice Chairman Fulcher

Watch the full hearing here.

Below are key excerpts from today’s hearing:

Congressman Bob Latta (OH-05): “I ride just about every year with the Ohio Highway Patrol. And when the troopers are out on the road, they can point out quickly people are not paying attention… it's so important when we go look at this is it's always been safety first, safety last, safety always… AVs that need to be as safe or safer than any vehicle on the road today you know it’s notable that an AV is never tired, it's never distracted, it's never impaired.”

Congressman Jay Obernolte (CA-23): “With respect to artificial intelligence in general, I chaired the House AI task force, and we included in our task force report an entire chapter on the issue of preemption because this balance of regulation is so important [Congress is considering] a temporary moratorium on state regulation of AI. And we think that that's necessary to avoid 50 different state regulators going in 50 different directions on something that's clearly interstate commerce and very similar to AV. We think that ultimately regulation of AI will require a partnership between federal and state regulation.”

Congresswoman Tom Kean (NJ-07): “As Congress works to ensure that our roadways are safe, I am grateful for the opportunity to hear from experts in the automobile industry on innovation and the impacts that NHTSA is having on safety on New Jersey's roads and across the United States.”

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