Washington, D.C. – Congressman Kevin Mullin (CA-15) and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (CA-11), sent a letter to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Acting Administrator Ann Carlson in response to a rising number of autonomous vehicles (AVs) operating on the streets of San Francisco – and elsewhere around the country – without sufficient data to evaluate their safety. The number of incidents involving AVs has skyrocketed in San Francisco, blocking intersections, obstructing public transit routes, and preventing first responders from reaching people in need.

The letter urges NHTSA to improve data on AV incidents and disruptions to help regulators and lawmakers assess concerns and ensure AVs operate safely.

“…As sophisticated as such software is becoming, AVs on the streets of San Francisco, which we both represent, have been experiencing challenges in addressing complex real-world situations, such as navigating road work zones and reacting to the temporary outage of signals. When AVs malfunction, they frequently shut down in place, which has resulted in the vehicles obstructing public transit routes, blocking intersections and the normal flow of traffic, and preventing first responders from reaching people in need,” the lawmakers wrote.

“…The improved collection of safety data would provide regulators at all levels of government with the clearer picture needed to further implement safeguards – and it could provide the public with more confidence in the safety of this new and important technology,” the lawmakers continued.

You can read the letter here.

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