American Association for Justice Inc.
02/10/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/10/2026 14:11
AAJ Statement Opposing Dangerous Federal Automated Vehicle (AV) Proposal
AAJ Statement Opposing Dangerous Federal Automated Vehicle (AV) Proposal
Proposed Legislation on AVs Fails to Protect Americans on Our Roadways
February 10,2026
WASHINGTON, D.C.-American Association for Justice (AAJ) CEO Linda Lipsen issued the following statement today opposing the SELF DRIVE Act:
"Congressional action on automated vehicles (AVs) must focus on safety and transparency as much as efficiency. The SELF DRIVE Act fails on all accounts, eliminating public protections and letting AV manufacturers treat our roadways like a crash course.
"The cost of progress cannot be peoples' lives. Like any new technology, public accountability is key-Congress must enact legislation that balances the promise of innovation with safety and transparency."
Background
As the use of automated vehicles (AVs) continues to rise, Congress must put in place federal safety, transparency, and accountability protections. The SELF Drive Act falls far short of this objective and, instead, wipes out critical safety protections while failing to replace them with any meaningful federal requirements, creating dangerous gaps for public safety.
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It eliminates all legal accountability for AV failures and collisions: The bill shields manufacturers from legal accountability when their AVs cause injury or death or when AV companies lie to the public.
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It strips away victims' fundamental rights, limiting their right to seek justice: If an individual is injured or killed, the bill allows AV companies to push Americans into forced arbitration, a secretive, behind-closed-doors process that stacks the deck against individuals in favor of corporations.
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It eliminates public safety and transparency measures: The bill removes safety requirements that have been established through institutions such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, allowing manufacturers to write their own safety requirements. This removes any requirement that manufacturers prove their vehicle can safely operate before it's on the road, effectively using the public as their crash course.
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It fails to establish critical data requirements: The legislation lacks any federal event data recorder requirements, which would preserve crash-relevant data and make it accessible to victims, law enforcement, and the courts.
- It could create dangerous gaps between state and federal law and render thousands of traffic laws unenforceable: The bill overlooks thousands of state traffic laws, failing to address how those laws apply to AVs. This could create legally perilous loopholes, where gaps between state and federal rules leave state traffic laws effectively unenforceable.
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