June 28, 2023
The Honorable Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
45 Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chair McMorris Rodgers:
On behalf of the American Council of the Blind and the undersigned organizations, we are writing to voice our support for the continued development and deployment of autonomous vehicles here in the United States, which could significantly enhance the lives of millions of disabled Americans and their loved ones, and ask that Congress take swift action to ensure that ongoing leadership of this industry can occur in this country.
For 42.5 million Americans who are living with a disability, inadequate access to transportation can be prohibitive to workforce participation, limit access to critical services, and make it more difficult to travel to the people and things most important to our communities and for whom we advocate. Self-driving technology and the development of accessible autonomous vehicles have the potential to help alleviate these existing transportation barriers, while also creating new opportunities for independence and ease of access that have so far been out of reach for far too many people in the United States.
The wide adoption of self-driving technology would benefit all of us by increasing economic opportunity and growing the national economy. According to a recent study by the National Disability Institute, an accessible and widely available autonomous ride hail service would bring an additional 9.15 million people into the American workforce, including 4.4 million jobs for people with disabilities. This same study found that self-driving technology would save the federal government $120.7 billion, through new tax revenue and reductions in spending from Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance programs, and would ultimately grow the U.S. economy by an estimated $867.7 billion over the next 10 years. Of course, these economic benefits may be realized only if autonomous vehicle technology is designed to be accessible to, useable by, and safe for people with disabilities.
For the past several years, autonomous vehicle companies have been developing, testing, and now deploying fleets of vehicles. It is time for Congress to continue its leadership by moving legislation forward that facilitates additional testing of self-driving technology, allows for the safe and scaled rollout of autonomous ride hail services, and other beneficial transportation alternatives, including within public transit, here in the United States. This legislation must include provisions involving people with disabilities and other marginalized community leaders in research and development processes, and require safe hardware and software systems development that ensures roadway safety for all users and non-users regardless of height, skin tone, wheelchair and mobility aid usage, or other such factors that must be taken into account as relates to vehicle safety technology. Doing so would ensure autonomous vehicles can be manufactured at scale, rapidly increasing access to this technology for Americans with unmet transportation needs, including those who have a disability. For these reasons, Congress must address the needs of passengers with disabilities, including wheelchair users, when creating a national autonomous vehicle framework.
We want to also thank you for your continued support for people with disabilities and for being a leader on accessibility issues in Congress. For these economic benefits, but also for the opportunity self-driving technology has to increase independence for people with disabilities in the United States, we urge you and Congressional leadership to quickly move forward with autonomous vehicle legislation.
Sincerely,
American Council of the Blind
Access Ready
American Foundation for the Blind
Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs
Autistic People of Color Fund
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Autistic Women and Non-binary Network
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
Epilepsy Foundation
National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities
National Disability Rights Network
National Disability Institute
Paralyzed Veterans of America
The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies
United Spinal Association