Sponsors (13)
Introduced February 5, 2026 by Robert E. Latta · Last progress February 5, 2026
The bill aims to accelerate ADS development and deployment by creating clearer federal standards, oversight, and pilot pathways—potentially improving safety, accessibility, and industry growth—while raising costs, concentrating market power, limiting state control, and posing safety, privacy, and implementation risks if oversight and definitions are imperfect.
Manufacturers, suppliers, and ADS developers gain a clearer, preemptive federal regulatory pathway that reduces state-by-state patchwork and legal uncertainty, making it easier to plan investment and scale operations.
Drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and other vulnerable road users benefit from stronger federal safety requirements (safety cases, incident reporting, crash data repository, cybersecurity, ODD protections) that aim to reduce ADS-related crashes and improve system safety and oversight.
People with disabilities, seniors, and non-drivers could gain earlier mobility and accessibility through pilot and limited commercial ADS passenger and freight services, expanding transportation options.
Middle‑class families and consumers may face higher vehicle prices because manufacturers and suppliers will incur increased development, testing, compliance, and reporting costs passed through to buyers.
Drivers, passengers, and other road users could face elevated safety risks if the push to accelerate testing and limited commercial operations outpaces oversight or if manufacturer actions (including disabling driver-oriented alerts) degrade human ability to intervene.
Small manufacturers, startups, and independent innovators may be disadvantaged by resource-intensive compliance, reporting, and civil penalties, favoring larger firms and risking reduced competition and market consolidation.
Based on analysis of 10 sections of legislative text.
Creates federal safety standards, definitions, testing, reporting, and limited commercial testing authority for automated driving systems and ADS-equipped vehicles.
Creates a comprehensive federal regulatory framework for vehicles equipped with automated driving systems (ADS). It directs the Department of Transportation (through NHTSA) to set performance- and capability-based safety standards, definitions, testing/validation and reporting rules (including incident reporting and cybersecurity/data recording), offers limited exemptions and civil penalties, and allows tightly controlled limited commercial operations for testing. It also requires federal review of SAE definitions and a Commerce Department review of a connected-vehicle supply-chain security rule, with agency reports and briefings on timelines set in the Act. The law affects automakers, ADS developers, technology suppliers, freight and public users of testing services, and federal/state regulators by creating reporting, recordkeeping, privacy protections, conformity and recall authorities, and mechanisms to permit controlled public-facing trials while seeking to prevent de facto deployments of noncompliant vehicles.