Washington, D.C.—The Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today released the Federal Automated Vehicle Policy (FAVP) “2.0,” streamlining and refining its inaugural autonomous vehicles (AV) policy in response to public comments, including those by SAFE.

Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) looks forward to reviewing the document, and applauds U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and the impressive work by NHTSA staff for prioritizing AVs within DOT and responding to stakeholder calls by continually improving the foundation of these vital policies that will encourage innovation and maintain America’s leadership.

Autonomous vehicles are a critical technology with the potential to spur some of the greatest improvements to society since the industrial revolution. SAFE will continue to work with policymakers and regulators to ensure a strong national framework is in place to allow the deployment of these vehicles of the road keeping America in the lead of this innovation.

“The on-time release of the FAVP 2.0 reemphasizes the commitment by DOT and NHTSA to quickly address and overcome the chances of a messy patchwork of state regulations,” said Robbie Diamond, President and CEO of Securing America’s Future Energy. “SAFE looks forward to continuing to work with the agency on version 3.0 to keep ahead of this technology revolution and ensure driverless cars have the necessary flexibility to significantly enhance our nation’s transportation, save tens of thousands of lives on our roads, expand mobility for millions of Americans and strengthen our national security through increased efficiency and fuel diversity.”

The U.S. transportation system is currently 92 percent powered by petroleum fuels. Autonomous vehicles are anticipated to enable a rapid shift towards alternative powered vehicles, diversifying the transportation sector away from oil, a single, highly-volatile global commodity traded on an unfair and unfree market.

SAFE continues to advocate for a unified, clear, modernized framework from Congress to allow for a safe and speedy deployment of AVs on public roadways for both cars and commercial vehicles.

About Securing America’s Future Energy

Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) is an action-oriented, nonpartisan organization that aims to reduce America’s dependence on oil. Near-total dependence on petroleum in the transportation sector undermines the nation’s economic and national security, and constrains U.S. foreign policy. To combat these threats, SAFE advocates for expanded domestic production of U.S. oil and gas resources, continued improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency, and transportation sector innovations including electric vehicles, natural gas trucks, and autonomous vehicles. In 2006, SAFE joined with General P.X. Kelley (Ret.), 28th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, and Frederick W. Smith, Chairman, President, and CEO of FedEx Corporation, to form the Energy Security Leadership Council (ESLC), a group of business and former military leaders committed to reducing the United States’ dependence on oil. Today, the ESLC is co-chaired by Frederick W. Smith and General James T. Conway (Ret), 34th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.

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