Driver Technology and Pedestrian Safety Act of 2025

Summary

Requires the Secretary of Transportation to contract with the National Academies to study how driver-controlled technologies—especially in‑vehicle touch screen systems and smartphone-projected interfaces—affect severe traffic injuries and fatalities for drivers and vulnerable road users. The Secretary must seek the agreement within 3 months of enactment (subject to available appropriations), select a study period that can go back up to 10 years, and publish the study findings and implementing recommendations on a specified timeline.

• Directs DOT to contract with the National Academies to study how driver-controlled tech, especially in-vehicle touch screens, affects severe injuries and fatalities.
• Agreement must be sought within 3 months of enactment (subject to appropriations); study period may reach back up to 10 years.
• Findings must be published within 24 months of the agreement, with policy and data-collection recommendations transmitted shortly after.
• Recommendations must be practical: they cannot only restate current law and must be categorized by whether agencies can act under existing authority or need new legislation.
• Defines key terms (driver-controlled technology, touch screen–based system, tactile control) and includes rideshare/TNC vehicles in scope.
• Requires analysis comparing in-vehicle touch-screen use to smartphone-projected interfaces and assessing effects of time, road conditions, and cross-country differences.
• Does not appropriate funds; actions are subject to available appropriations and do not themselves change regulatory requirements.
• Includes a judicial deference clause directing courts to defer to reasonable DOT interpretations of ambiguous terms.