Federal Advocacy Action Alert! Stop AV START Act!
Written by Lauren LeClaire
November 28, 2018
Please join us in this important ACTION ALERT in conjunction with the League of American Bicyclists. We need you to call Senators Markey and Warren TODAY!
The Senate is hoping to pass Senate Bill 1885: The AV START Act this week! The bill could increase tenfold the number of automated vehicles on the roads - making them available for sale while exempting them from current safety standards.
We need your help to stop this bill. Please Call your Senators and ask them to vote NO on the AV START Act!
(Calls are more effective than emails- but if you are uncomfortable calling emails help too)
The bill requires that automated vehicles have "a sense of" bicyclists and pedestrians. What does that mean? It's not clear.
The League and MassBike believe that automated driving systems should not just have a "sense of" bicyclists and pedestrians, but that "sense" should be specific and tested. They should have to pass a "vision test" — proving their ability to detect, recognize, and respond to people bicycling, walking, and using wheelchairs, before they are allowed on public roads in large numbers.
If the bill doesn't pass this year, it will expire. That would give us an opportunity to influence a regulatory framework that includes safeguards for everyone - including bicyclists and pedestrians.
Please join us in asking Senators to vote NO on the AV START Act.