[House Hearing, 116 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
SUMMER DRIVING DANGERS: EXPLORING WAYS TO PROTECT DRIVERS AND THEIR
FAMILIES
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON CONSUMER PROTECTION AND COMMERCE
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
MAY 23, 2019
__________
Serial No. 116-39
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Printed for the use of the Committee on Energy and Commerce
govinfo.gov/committee/house-energy
energycommerce.house.gov
___________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
40-556 PDF WASHINGTON : 2021
COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE
FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey
Chairman
BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois GREG WALDEN, Oregon
ANNA G. ESHOO, California Ranking Member
ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York FRED UPTON, Michigan
DIANA DeGETTE, Colorado JOHN SHIMKUS, Illinois
MIKE DOYLE, Pennsylvania MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas
JAN SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois STEVE SCALISE, Louisiana
G. K. BUTTERFIELD, North Carolina ROBERT E. LATTA, Ohio
DORIS O. MATSUI, California CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS, Washington
KATHY CASTOR, Florida BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky
JOHN P. SARBANES, Maryland PETE OLSON, Texas
JERRY McNERNEY, California DAVID B. McKINLEY, West Virginia
PETER WELCH, Vermont ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico H. MORGAN GRIFFITH, Virginia
PAUL TONKO, New York GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida
YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York, Vice BILL JOHNSON, Ohio
Chair BILLY LONG, Missouri
DAVID LOEBSACK, Iowa LARRY BUCSHON, Indiana
KURT SCHRADER, Oregon BILL FLORES, Texas
JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III, SUSAN W. BROOKS, Indiana
Massachusetts MARKWAYNE MULLIN, Oklahoma
TONY CARDENAS, California RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina
RAUL RUIZ, California TIM WALBERG, Michigan
SCOTT H. PETERS, California EARL L. ``BUDDY'' CARTER, Georgia
DEBBIE DINGELL, Michigan JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina
MARC A. VEASEY, Texas GREG GIANFORTE, Montana
ANN M. KUSTER, New Hampshire
ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois
NANETTE DIAZ BARRAGAN, California
A. DONALD McEACHIN, Virginia
LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER, Delaware
DARREN SOTO, Florida
TOM O'HALLERAN, Arizona
------
Professional Staff
JEFFREY C. CARROLL, Staff Director
TIFFANY GUARASCIO, Deputy Staff Director
MIKE BLOOMQUIST, Minority Staff Director
Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce
JAN SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois
Chairwoman
KATHY CASTOR, Florida CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS, Washington
MARC A. VEASEY, Texas Ranking Member
ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois FRED UPTON, Michigan
TOM O'HALLERAN, Arizona MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico ROBERT E. LATTA, Ohio
TONY CARDENAS, California, Vice BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky
Chair LARRY BUCSHON, Indiana
LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER, Delaware RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina
DARREN SOTO, Florida EARL L. ``BUDDY'' CARTER, Georgia
BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois GREG GIANFORTE, Montana
DORIS O. MATSUI, California GREG WALDEN, Oregon (ex officio)
JERRY McNERNEY, California
DEBBIE DINGELL, Michigan
FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey (ex
officio)
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hon. Jan Schakowsky, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Illinois, opening statement................................. 1
Prepared statement........................................... 3
Hon. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Representative in Congress from
the State of Washington, opening statement..................... 3
Prepared statement........................................... 5
Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr., a Representative in Congress from the
State of New Jersey, opening statement......................... 6
Prepared statement........................................... 8
Hon. Robert Latta, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Ohio, opening statement........................................ 9
Prepared statement........................................... 10
Witnesses
Miles Harrison, Father of Chase Harrison......................... 11
Prepared statement........................................... 13
Janette Fennell, President and Founder, Kidsandcars.org.......... 16
Prepared statement........................................... 18
Answers to submitted questions............................... 78
Gary Shapiro, President and CEO, Consumer Technology Association. 28
Prepared statement........................................... 30
Answers to submitted questions............................... 85
Jason Levine, Executive Director, Center for Auto Safety......... 34
Prepared statement........................................... 36
Answers to submitted questions............................... 88
Submitted Material
Letter of May 23, 2019, from Robbie Diamond, President and CEO,
Securing America's Future Energy, to Mr. Pallone, et al.,
submitted by Ms. Schakowsky.................................... 60
Letter of May 22, 2019, from Tim Day, Senior Vice President, C--
TEC, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, to Ms. Schakowsky and Ms.
McMorris Rogers, submitted by Ms. Schakowsky................... 63
Statement of Safety, Innovation, and Autonomous Vehicles, May 22,
2019, by Jennifer Huddleston and Brent Skorup, Research Fellows
from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, to Ms.
Schakowsky, submitted by Ms. Schakowsky \1\
Letter of May 23, 2019, from Marc Scribner, Senior Fellow
Competitive Enterprise Institute, to Mr. Pallone and Mrs.
McMorris Rodgers, submitted by Ms. Schakowsky.................. 65
Statement of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, May 23, 2019,
by Catherine Chase, President, submitted by Ms. Schakowsky..... 66
Statement of the National Safety Council, May 23, 2019, submitted
by Ms. Schakowsky.............................................. 73
----------
\1\ Statement has been retained in committee files and also is
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/IF17/20190523/
109548/HHRG-116-IF17-20190523-SD005.pdf.
SUMMER DRIVING DANGERS: EXPLORING WAYS TO PROTECT DRIVERS AND THEIR
FAMILIES
----------
THURSDAY, MAY 23, 2019
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce,
Committee on Energy and Commerce,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:03 a.m., in
the John D. Dingell Room 2123, Rayburn House Office Building,
Hon. Jan Schakowsky (chairwoman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Schakowsky, O'Halleran, Lujan,
Cardenas, Blunt Rochester, Soto, Matsui, McNerney, Pallone (ex
officio), Rodgers (subcommittee ranking member), Latta,
Guthrie, Bucshon, Hudson, Carter, and Walden (ex officio).
Staff Present: Jeffrey C. Carroll, Staff Director; Evan
Gilbert, Deputy Press Secretary; Lisa Goldman, Senior Counsel;
Waverly Gordon, Deputy Chief Counsel; Daniel Greene,
Professional Staff Member; Alex Hoehn-Saric, Chief Counsel,
Communications and Consumer Protection; Zach Kahan, Outreach
and Member Service Coordinator; Meghan Mullon, Staff Assistant;
Tim Robinson, Chief Counsel; Chloe Rodriguez, Policy Analyst;
Andrew Souvall, Director of Communications, Outreach and Member
Services; Benjamin Tabor, Staff Assistant; Sydney Terry, Policy
Coordinator; Mike Bloomquist, Minority Staff Director; Melissa
Froelich, Minority Chief Counsel, Consumer Protection and
Commerce; Peter Kielty, Minority General Counsel; Bijan
Koohmaraie, Minority Counsel, Consumer Protection and Commerce;
and Brannon Rains, Minority Legislative Clerk.
Ms. Schakowsky. The Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and
Commerce will now come to order.
The Chair now recognizes--oh, I am sorry. The Chair now
recognizes herself for 5 minutes for an opening statement.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JAN SCHAKOWSKY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
Good morning, and thank you so much for being with us
today. Today's hearing is about promoting auto safety and
raising awareness about the threats families face in our
Nation's--on our Nation's roads, and off the roads as well, as
we enter summer driving seasons.
One of those threats is child vehicular heatstroke, which
occurs when a child is left in an overheating car. I would like
to take a moment to recognize two families who have endured
such tragedies and turned their pain into action, advocating
for legislation to make sure no child ever dies in an
overheating car.
Miles and Carol Harrison from Purcellville, Virginia. They
are the parents of Chase, who died at only 21 months in a--on
July 8, 2008, after being unknowingly left in a hot car.
Erin Holly of Charlotte, South Carolina, her now 2-year-old
son, Finn, was 4 weeks old when he was unknowingly left in her
family car--in their family car. Fortunately, his parents
quickly realized their mistake and rescued their baby boy. But
just a few months later, one of Finn's daycare classmates died
in a hot car. Shortly after, a 7-month old child in Erin's
community also died in an overheated car.
You know, there are far too many ways for parents to lose
children that we can't control. We have a duty, however, to do
everything we can to ensure that parents don't lose a child
when we can prevent that. Fifty-two children died in heatstroke
in cars last year, 52. In most cases, the parents
accidentally--loving parents accidentally left their child in
the car. Eight children died in hot cars so far this year. Just
yesterday--just yesterday, a 5-month-old girl tragically died
in a van sitting outside of her daycare.
Education alone cannot solve this crisis. Even the most
attentive parent can get distracted and inadvertently leave
their child in a rapidly warming vehicle. A simple alert
notification for parents that they have left their child in the
car can save their lives.
Yesterday, we had a press conference where several such
technologies were displayed, proving that we have the
technological skill that we need to prevent many of these
tragedies. We do have to do an evaluation of those different
technologies.
You get a warning when you leave keys in the car or when
you leave your lights on. Every new car should be equipped with
technology to effectively alert parents if they learn that a
child is in the car. That is why I am eager to reintroduce hot
cars--the HOT CARS Act with Congressman Ryan and also
Congressman King of New York, that new cars come equipped with
an alert system.
I also look forward to exploring many other safety
technologies, such as automatic emergency braking, lane
departures, departure warnings, and pedestrian detection that
exist today and can dramatically reduce the number of
automobile fatalities and injuries. But deployment of these
safety features is slow and often reserved for those willing to
pay a premium for advanced technologies in their cars. It is
time for Congress to take decisive action to keep families
safe, and we all have a track record--and we do have a track
record of success.
Last year, finally, rear backup cameras became standard in
new vehicles; an issue that I championed for a long time before
it actually became the law and was enforced. And thanks to the
commitment of those parents, children, and advocates who made
that happen. I look forward to exploring how we can ensure that
all cars can be equipped with the best safety features.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Schakowsky follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Jan Schakowsky
Good morning, thank you for being here with us.
Today's hearing is about promoting auto safety and raising
awareness about the threats families face on our nation's roads
as we enter summer driving season.
One of those threats is child vehicular heatstroke, which
occurs when a child is left in an overheating car. I would like
to take a moment to recognize two families who have endured
such tragedies, and turned their pain into action, advocating
for legislation to make sure no child ever dies in an
overheating car.
Miles and Carol Harrison from Purcellville, Virginia. They
are the parents of Chase, who died at only 21 months old on
July 8, 2008, after being unknowingly left in a hot car.
Erin Holley of Charleston, South Carolina. Her now 2-year-
old son, Finn, was 4 weeks old when he was unknowingly left in
their family car. Fortunately, his parents quickly realized
their mistake and rescued their baby boy. But just a few months
later, one of Finn's daycare classmates died in a hot car.
Shortly after, a 7-month old child in Erin's community also
died in an overheated car.
There are far too many ways for parents to lose a child
that we can't control. We have a duty to do everything we can
to ensure that parents don't lose a child when we can prevent
it.
Fifty-two children died of heat stroke in cars last year.
FIFTY-TWO. In most cases, the parent accidently leaves the
child in the car. Eight children died in hot cars so far this
year. Just yesterday, a 5-month-old girl tragically died in a
van sitting outside of her daycare.Education alone cannot solve
this crisis. Even the most attentive parent can get distracted
and inadvertently leave their child in a rapidly warming
vehicle.
A simple alert notifying parents that they left their child
in their car can save lives. Yesterday, I held a press
conference where several such technologies were on display,
proving that we have the technology needed to prevent many of
these tragedies.
You get a warning when you leave keys in the car or when
you leave your lights on. Every new car should be equipped with
technologies to alert parents if they leave a child in the car.
That's why I am eager to reintroduce the HOT CARS Act with
Congressman Ryan to mandate that new cars with come equipped
with an alert system.
I also look forward to exploring many other safety
technologies--such as automatic emergency braking, lane
departure warnings, and pedestrian detection--that exist today
and can dramatically reduce the number of automobile fatalities
and injuries every year.
But deployment of these safety features is slow, and often
reserved for those willing to pay a premium for advanced safety
features.
It's time for Congress to take decisive action to keep
families safe.
And we have a track record of success.
Last year, rear back-up cameras became standard in new
vehicles, an issue I championed after hearing devastating
stories from parents whose children died in back- over
accidents. Thanks to the commitment of those parents, children
today are more protected.
I look forward to exploring how we can ensure all cars can
be equipped with the best safety features.
Ms. Schakowsky. I now yield to the ranking member, Mrs.
McMorris Rodgers.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS, A
REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
Mrs. Rodgers. Thank you, Madam Chairman. I want to just say
thank you for your leadership on these important issues for
many years, and now as the chair of this subcommittee.
Welcome to everyone. Today, we are going to explore ways
that we can protect drivers and their families from dangers on
our roadways, as well as off our roadways, as the chairwoman
just outlined.
First, thank you, Mr. Harrison, for being here. Your story
is powerful, and it is moving, and I want to commend you for
your commitment to Chase.
Several automakers have taken the challenge head on, of
reducing instances children are left in cars. And there are
also several startups focusing on other technologies to address
these tragedies. I am committed to finding all paths to getting
safety and safe technologies into cars faster. Sometimes that
means industry needs certainty, and sometimes that means the
market needs space for innovation, or both.
This weekend is Memorial Day weekend, and it brings
families and friends together. We honor those who have
sacrificed their lives defending our rights and our freedom. It
also unofficially marks the start of the summer vacation travel
season, and with more travel, comes more risk on the roads.
In recent years, more than 300 people have died over the
holiday weekend, and some estimate that the number could
increase over this weekend. I encourage everyone here and
everyone watching: be safe, put your phone down, focus on
driving. Do not drive if you have consumed any alcohol or other
drugs. If you feel different, you drive different. Put on your
seatbelt. Seatbelts save lives.
Risk on our roadways also present safety concerns year
round. Technology offers potential solutions to many of these
safety concerns. Right now, advanced driver assistance systems
are in more and more cars that we drive every day. Advanced
driver assistance systems include automatic emergency braking,
lane departure warning, crash avoidance technology, blind spot
detection, vehicle-to-vehicle communications, V2X, and so much
more.
In fact, 20 automakers have voluntarily pledged to include
automatic emergency braking, the AEB, in virtually all new
passenger vehicles by September 2022. The Insurance Institute
for Highway Safety estimates that by 2025, this agreement will
prevent 28,000 crashes and 12,000 injuries. These systems are
the foundation and building blocks for self-driving vehicles.
We lose more than 37,000 lives a year on our roads. And
according to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, 94 percent of all accidents are due to human
error. These include distracted driving, driving while under
the influence of alcohol or drugs, and even driving drowsy. The
more we can safely automate the driving process, the more human
error we can remove. As a result, we have greatly improved the
safety of our roadways.
In addition to drastically improving safety, self-driving
vehicles offer vast mobility benefits. People with
disabilities, our elderly community, and those not served by
traditional public transportation stand to gain so much from
widespread use of self-driving vehicles.
Self-driving vehicles promise to improve freedom and
mobility for our communities. Self-driving vehicles would make
going to work, to the grocery store, across town to visit
friends, or going to the doctor so much easier. Self-driving
vehicles will restore independence and break down the
transportation barriers for so many Americans.
Self-driving vehicles are also important for our global
standing. Right now, the United States is the global leader in
innovation. To compete and remain the leader, we must do
everything we can to advance the safe development and
deployment of self-driving vehicle technology. Other countries
are moving full speed ahead. Some are even developing their
technology in our own backyard. Almost a quarter of all
companies testing in California are Chinese.
Earlier this year, I joined my colleagues, Republican
Leader Walden and Representative Latta, urging this committee
to continue the bipartisan work from last Congress to advance
the safe development of self-driving cars.
I want to thank the chairwoman, Chair Schakowsky, for
holding this important hearing for us to explore ways, so many
ways, in which we can improve auto safety and save lives.
Thank you, and I yield back.
[The prepared statement of Mrs. Rodgers follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Good morning and welcome to the Consumer Protection and
Commerce Subcommittee hearing. Today we will explore ways we
can protect drivers and their families from dangers on our
roadways.
First, thank you Mr. Harrison for being here. Your story is
powerful, and moving. I want to commend you for your commitment
to Chase.
Several automakers have taken the challenge of reducing
instances children left in cars head on and there are also
several startups focusing on other technologies to address
these tragedies.
I remain committed to finding all paths to getting safety
technologies into cars faster--sometimes that means industry
needs certainty and sometimes that means the market needs space
for innovation or both.
This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend. It brings families
and friends together to remember and honor those who have
sacrificed their lives defending our rights and Freedom.
It also unofficially marks the start of the summer vacation
travel season. With more travel comes more risks on our roads.
In recent years, more than 300 people have died over this
holiday weekend and some estimate that number could increase
over this weekend. I would encourage everyone here and
watching, please be safe.
Please put your phone down and focus on driving;
Please do not drive if you have consumed any
alcohol or other drugs: "If you feel different, you drive
different"; and
Please put your seat belt on . . . seat belts save
lives.
Risks on our roadways also present safety concerns year-
round. Technology offers potential solutions to many of these
safety concerns.
Right now, advanced driver assistance systems are in more
and more of the cars we drive every day. Advanced driver
assistance systems include automatic emergency braking, lane
departure warning, crash avoidance technology, blind spot
detection, vehicle-to vehicle communications, V2X, and so much
more.
In fact, 20 automakers have voluntarily pledged to include
automatic emergency braking (AEB) in virtually all new
passenger vehicles by September 2022.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) estimates
that by 2025, this agreement will prevent 28-thousand crashes
and 12-thousand injuries.
These systems are the foundation and building blocks for
self-driving vehicles.
We lose more than 37,000 lives a year on our roads, and
according to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, 94 percent of all accidents are due to human
error.
These include distracted driving, driving while under the
influence of alcohol or drugs, and even driving drowsy. The
more we can safely automate the driving process, the more human
error we can remove. As a result, we can greatly improve the
safety of our roadways.
In addition to drastically improving safety, self-driving
vehicles offer vast mobility benefits. People with
disabilities, our elderly community, and those not served by
traditional public transportation stand to gain so much from
widespread use of self-driving vehicles.
Self-driving vehicles promise to improve freedom and
mobility for our communities. Self-driving vehicles could make
going to work, to the grocery store, across town to visit
friends, or to go to the doctor so much easier.
Self-driving vehicles will restore independence and break
down transportation barriers for so many Americans.
Self-driving vehicles also are important for our global
standing. Right now, the U.S. is the global leader in
innovation. To compete and remain the leader, we must do
everything we can to advance the safe development and
deployment of self-driving vehicle technology.
Other countries are moving full speed ahead. Some are even
developing their technology in our own backyard. Almost a
quarter of all companies testing in California are Chinese.
Earlier this year, I joined my colleagues Republican Leader
Walden, and Rep. Latta urging this Committee to continue the
bipartisan work from last Congress to advance the safe
development of self-driving cars.
I want to thank Chair Schakowsky for holding this important
hearing for us to explore ways in which we can improve auto
safety.
Thank you and I yield back.
Ms. Schakowsky. The gentlewoman yields back.
And now I recognize Chairman Pallone for 5 minutes for his
opening statement.
Mr. Pallone. Thank you, Madam Chair.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK PALLONE, Jr., A REPRESENTATIVE
IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY
This hearing is particularly timely as the Memorial Day
weekend is one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
Millions of Americans are taking to the Nation's roads to
travel to barbecues and beaches; including many heading to the
Jersey Shore.
But this can be a dangerous weekend too. Nearly 350 people
died in motor vehicle crashes over Memorial Day weekend in
2017. And as temperatures rise, so does the risk of heatstroke
for children left in cars. In 2017, more than 40,000 people
died as a result of a motor vehicle accident, and 4.6 million
were injured.
Unfortunately, automobile fatalities are on the rise. Motor
vehicle death rates have steeply increased since 2014, after
nearly a decade of falling. It is a troubling trend suggesting
that we need to double down on our efforts to improve the
safety of our roadways.
Technologies exist that will vastly improve motor vehicle
safety, but we must find ways to get them in the hands of all
drivers. Take, for example, heatstroke victims in cars. One
child's death is an extraordinary tragedy. Fifty-two is a
crisis. Last year, 52 children died from heatstroke after being
left in hot cars. Over the last 20 years, 802 children have
been lost from these types of tragedies, and more than half of
those deaths occur when a distracted parent accidentally leaves
his or her child in a vehicle.
This is a heartbreak, obviously, that Mr. Harrison knows
all too well.
Mr. Harrison, I am sorry for your loss, and I thank you for
sharing your son's stories in hopes that we can end these sorts
of devastating accidents.
There are ways we can prevent kids from dying from
vehicular heatstroke. Technologies alerting drivers to check
their backseats for children exist today, but have not been
widely deployed.
This crisis requires action. Just yesterday, there was
another tragic death in Florida when a baby girl died after
being left in a daycare van for several hours; and that is why
I applaud Chairwoman Schakowsky and Congressman Ryan for the
work on the HOT CARS Act, legislation that would require
vehicles to be equipped with safety technologies alerting
drivers to check their rear seat after a car is turned off.
These and other existing safety technologies hold the
promise of saving lives and reducing both the number and the
severity of auto crashes. Crash avoidance technologies like
automatic emergency brakes, rear automatic braking, blind spot
detection, and lane departure warnings are all proving to
reduce crashes.
Similarly, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
estimates that adaptive headlights, which automatically channel
light around curbs without causing glare for oncoming traffic,
could help prevent up to 90 percent of nighttime curb crashes.
These headlights are available overseas but are not legal in
the United States.
Yet NHTSA has not done much to require or even encourage
automakers to make lifesaving technology standard. If an
automotive feature or technology proves it can save lives, it
should not be a luxury reserved only for those who can afford
to buy the high-end car. These sorts of safety technologies
should become a standard, in our cars, as seatbelts and air
bags.
NHTSA is even failing at educating consumers and
incentivizing manufacturers to adopt safety features. The New
Car Assessment Program managed by NHTSA provides ratings on a
scale from one to five stars for vehicle performance in crash
and rollover tests. This five-star safety rating is supposed to
be a tool that helps consumers make more informed decisions
when purchasing their vehicles and encourages manufacturers to
exceed minimum safety standards.
But this safety seal has become a more--basically, a mere
participation trophy. Ninety-nine percent of 2016 models
received four or five stars, the highest ratings. The very
integrity and value of the five-star safety rating is
undermined if the certification does not draw meaningful
distinctions between the safety of different vehicles.
It is also not meaningful if the safety certification fails
to include crucial safety technologies already deployed on
automobiles. Unfortunately, the five-star safety rating does
not account for advanced crash avoidance technologies like
four-wheel collision warning, lane departure warning, and blind
spot detection.
NHTSA started to update the program in 2015, but has yet to
make needed changes. We must modernize the five-star safety
rating for the 21st century automobile so consumers can be
empowered to identify and purchase the safest car of their
choosing.
So I thank our witnesses for testifying this morning.
Madam Chair, I want to say that I really am impressed by
all of the--not only the hearings that you have been having,
but the initiatives that are coming forward on consumer
protection. Which I really think has, you know, kind of been
neglected in the past. You are making sure that when we deal
with consumer issues, that they are once again in the
forefront. So I appreciate that. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Pallone follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr.
This hearing is particularly timely, as the Memorial Day
weekend is one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
Millions of Americans are taking to the nation's roads to
travel to barbeques and beaches--including many heading to the
Jersey shore. But this can be a dangerous weekend too. Nearly
350 people died in motor vehicle crashes over Memorial Day
weekend in 2017. And as temperatures rise, so does the risk of
heatstroke for children left in cars.
In 2017, more than 40,000 people died as a result of a
motor vehicle accident, and 4.6 million were injured. And,
unfortunately, automobile fatalities are on the rise. Motor
vehicle death rates have steeply increased since 2014, after
nearly a decade of falling. It's a troubling trend suggesting
that we need to double down on our efforts to improve the
safety of our roadways.
Technologies exist that will vastly improve motor vehicle
safety. We must find ways to get them in the hands of all
drivers.
Take for example heatstroke victims in cars. One child's
death is an extraordinary tragedy. Fifty-two is a crisis. Last
year, 52 children died from heatstroke after being left in hot
cars. Over the last 20 years, 802 children have been lost from
these types of tragedies, and more than half of these deaths
occur when a distracted parent accidently leaves his or her
child in a vehicle.
This is heartbreak Mr. Harrison knows all too well. Mr.
Harrison, I am so sorry for your loss. I thank you for sharing
your son's story in hopes that we can end these sorts of
devastating accidents.
There are ways we can prevent kids from dying from
vehicular heatstroke. Technologies alerting drivers to check
their backseats for children exists today but has not been
widely deployed. This crisis requires action. Just yesterday
there was another tragic death in Florida when a baby girl died
after being left in a day care van for several hours. And
that's why I applaud Chairwoman Schakowsky and Congressman Ryan
for their work on the HOT CARS Act--legislation that would
require vehicles to be equipped with safety technologies
alerting drivers to check the rear seat after a car is turned
off.
These and other existing safety technologies hold the
promise of saving lives and reducing both the number and the
severity of automobile crashes. Crash avoidance technologies
like automatic emergency brakes, rear automatic braking, blind
spot detection, and lane departure warnings are all proving to
reduce crashes. Similarly, the Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety estimates that adaptive headlights--which automatically
channel light around curves without causing glare for oncoming
traffic--could help prevent up to 90 percent of nighttime curve
crashes. These headlights are available overseas but are not
legal in the United States.
Yet, NHTSA has not done much to require or even encourage
automakers to make life-saving technologies standard. If an
automotive feature or technology proves it can save lives, it
should not be a luxury reserved only for those who can afford
to buy the highest end cars. These sorts of safety technologies
should become as standard in our cars as seatbelts and airbags.
NHTSA is even failing at educating consumers and
incentivizing manufacturers to adopt safety features. The New
Car Assessment Program managed by NHTSA provides ratings on a
scale from one to five stars for vehicle performance in crash
and rollover tests. This 5-Star Safety Rating is supposed to be
a tool that helps consumers make more informed decisions when
purchasing their vehicles and encourages manufacturers to
exceed minimum safety standards. But this safety seal has
become a mere participation trophy. Ninety-nine percent of 2016
models received 4 or 5 stars, the highest ratings.
The very integrity and value of the 5-Star Safety Rating is
undermined if the certification does not draw meaningful
distinctions between the safety of different vehicles. It is
also not meaningful if this safety certification fails to
include crucial safety technologies already deployed on
automobiles.
Unfortunately, the 5-Star Safety Rating does not account
for advanced crash avoidance technologies, like forward
collision warning, lane departure warning, and blind spot
detection.
NHTSA started to update the program in 2015 but has yet to
make needed changes. We must modernize the 5-Star Safety Rating
for the 21st century automobile, so consumers can be empowered
to identify and purchase the safest car of their choosing.
I thank our witnesses for testifying this morning, and I
look forward to the discussion.
Ms. Schakowsky. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
In lieu of the ranking Republican, Mr. Latta is now
recognized for 5 minutes for an opening statement.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT E. LATTA, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OHIO
Mr. Latta. Well, thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you very
much for holding today's hearing.
And I want to thank all of our witnesses, and especially
you, Mr. Harrison, for being with us today.
As has been mentioned, this weekend is Memorial Day weekend
and the unofficial start of summer. Summertime means school is
out and families across the country are hitting the roads for
vacation. It can also mean more inexperienced drivers behind
the wheel, added congestion, and increased unpredictability on
our roadways.
Today, we have the opportunity to discuss the bipartisan
efforts this subcommittee can make to promote the development
and deployment of different technologies that have the
potential to address some of these concerns and, ultimately,
save thousands of lives.
In 2016 alone, more than 37,000 people lost their lives on
U.S. highways. Ninety-four percent of the accidents are
attributed to human error, including driver distraction and
inattention. I believe there are technologies we can utilize to
prevent the loss of life during the summertime driving season
and any time.
Today, many cars are already equipped with active safety
features or semiautonomous driving systems. These systems known
as advanced driver assistance systems help drivers stay within
their designated lane, accelerate to pass a slow-moving
vehicle, safely change lanes, avoid front-end collisions, and
even park. These advanced systems demonstrate the important
role technology plays to address auto safety concerns, and are
the foundation for the eventual deployment of self-driving
vehicles.
That is why last Congress I introduced, with Chairman
Schakowsky, the bipartisan Self Drive Act, which clarified the
Federal and State roles in regulating self-driving vehicles,
provided much needed updates to outdated statutory and
regulatory barriers, and ensured that the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration gets the data it needs, all while
focusing on consumer safety and improving mobility for
individuals with disabilities or senior citizens and those
underserved by inadequate public transportation.
Included in the legislation was also language to spur
innovation around technology to help avoid the tragedy of a
child losing his or her life in a hot vehicle. U.S. companies
are investing major resources in the research and deployment of
these technologies, and the Self Drive Act would have provided
much needed certainty and updates to existing rules to unleash
this innovation.
Earlier this year, I joined Republican Leaders Walden and
Rodgers in requesting the gentleman from New Jersey, the
chairman of the full committee, that this committee stay
focused on this issue. I believe our work on the SELF DRIVE Act
was an example of this committee at its best, working together
in an open process on technology that will save lives.
Since the legislation passed unanimously both in committee
and on the House floor, it is my hope that we can make this
issue a priority again in this Congress. Within this
subcommittee, the gentle lady from Illinois, our chair, has
worked tirelessly to promote technology to seek to prevent the
tragedies we have heard about when a child is left in a hot
car. I commend her for her work, and stand committed to working
with her in a bipartisan way to implement policies that could
reduce these tragedies.
We have an opportunity to work towards ending senseless
deaths on our roads by making investments in technology. I want
to thank our members and staff on both sides of the aisle for
their hard bipartisan work on this issue.
Again, I thank the gentle lady for having this committee
hearing today, and I yield back the balance of my time.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Latta follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Robert Latta
Good morning, I would like to thank our Chair for holding
this important hearing, and I thank our witnesses for being
here. This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend and the unofficial
start to summer. Summertime means school is out and families
across the country are hitting the road for vacation. It can
also mean more inexperienced drivers behind the wheel, added
congestion, and increased unpredictability on our roadways.
Today, we have the opportunity to discuss the bipartisan
efforts this Subcommittee can make to promote the development
and deployment of different technologies that have the
potential to address some of those concerns and ultimately save
thousands of lives.
In 2016 alone, more than 37,000 people lost their lives on
U.S. highways. Ninety-four percent of accidents are
attributable to human error, including driver distraction and
inattention. I believe there are technologies we can utilize to
prevent the loss of life during the summer driving season.
Today, many cars are already equipped with active safety
features or semi-autonomous driving systems. These systems,
known as advanced driver assistance systems, help drivers stay
within their designated lane; accelerate to pass a slow-moving
vehicle; safely change lanes; avoid front end collisions; and
even park. These advanced systems demonstrate the important
role technology plays to address auto safety concerns and are
the foundation for the eventual deployment of self-driving
vehicles.
That is why last Congress I introduced, with Chair
Schakowsky, the bipartisan SELF-DRIVE Act, which clarified the
Federal and State roles in regulating self-driving vehicles,
provided much needed updates to outdated statutory and
regulatory barriers, and ensure the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration gets the data it needs--all while
focusing on consumer safety and improving mobility for
individuals with disabilities, our senior citizens, and those
underserved by inadequate public transportation.
Included in the legislation was also language to spur
innovation around technology to help avoid the tragedy of a
child losing their in a hot car. U.S. companies are investing
major resources in the research and development of these
technologies and the SELF-DRIVE Act would have provided much
needed certainty and updates to existing rules to unleash this
innovation.
Earlier this year, I joined Republican Leaders Walden and
Rodgers in requesting Chairman Pallone stay focused on this
issue. I believe our work on the SELF-DRIVE Act was an example
of this committee at its best: working together, in an open
process on technology that will save lives. Since this
legislation passed unanimously both in Committee and on the
House Floor, it is my hope that we can make this issue a
priority again this Congress.
Within this Subcommittee, Chairwoman Schakowsky has also
worked tirelessly to promote technologies that seek to prevent
the tragedies we have heard about when a child is left in a hot
car. I commend her for her work and stand committed to working
with her in a bipartisan way to implement policies that could
reduce these tragedies.
We have an opportunity to work towards ending senseless
deaths on our roads by making investments in technology. I want
to thank our members and staff on both sides of the aisle for
their bipartisan work.
Thank you again, and I yield back my time.
Ms. Schakowsky. I thank the gentleman.
I want to assure you that we will be working in a
bipartisan way with the autonomous vehicles but also the safety
protection bills. I hope everyone will come on as a co-sponsor
of the HOT CARS Act.
So now it is my privilege to introduce our witnesses today.
I did want to point out that there is a slightly different
feature available today, and those are boxes of tissue; because
we are dealing with a very, very sensitive issue today, among
others.
Our witnesses are Miles Harrison, who is the father of
Chase Harrison; Janette Fennell, the president and founder of
KidsAndCars organization; Gary Shapiro, who is president and
CEO of Consumer Technology Association; and Jason--Levine or
Levine?
Mr. Levine. Levine.
Ms. Schakowsky. Levine, executive director of the Center
for Auto Safety.
We want to thank our witnesses for joining us today. We
look forward to your testimony.
I failed to mention that all members can submit for the
record opening statements. But at this time, the Chair will now
recognize each witness for 5 minutes to provide their opening
statement.
I think most people here understand the light system. You
have a series of lights. The light will initially be green at
the start of your opening statement. The light will then turn
yellow when you have 1 minute remaining, and please begin to
wrap up testimony at that point. The light will turn red when
your time has expired.
So, Mr. Harrison, again, very grateful for you to be here.
I know this is difficult. We all do. You are recognized for 5
minutes.
STATEMENTS OF MILES HARRISON, FATHER OF CHASE HARRISON; JANETTE
FENNELL, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KIDSANDCARS.ORG; GARY SHAPIRO,
PRESIDENT AND CEO, CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION; AND JASON
LEVINE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR AUTO SAFETY
STATEMENT OF MILES HARRISON
Mr. Harrison. Thank you, ma'am, very much. And for everyone
here, thank you for your time.
Eleven years ago, it was a typical day at my home; everyone
getting up, getting ready to head out the door, as well as
myself getting ready to go to work. Like many parents, I was
multitasking; thinking of all the things to do during the day.
We were rushing around, rushing around, not very organized.
My world changed forever that day. When I went to my office
I was focused on all the work problems that people typically
focus on, and the day flew by. I even went out to lunch with my
boss. We talked about all the problems, all the pressures.
Having no idea what time it was, at the end of the day, a
colleague of mine came up to my office around 5 p.m. And said,
``hey, do you have a doll in your car?'' And I said, ``a doll?
What are you talking about?''
It was then that I realized, oh my God, oh my God, what
have I done! I ran outside of my office and rushed to my car. I
saw my son Chase through the window. I threw open the car door
and grabbed him and rushed into my office carrying him and
screaming, ``oh my God, oh my God!'' I had not dropped him off
at daycare.
I was so distraught and upset I couldn't see straight. I
was taken by ambulance to the emergency room. And I remember a
nurse asking me if I wanted something for the pain, and I said,
``I don't deserve that. I need to feel all this pain.''
From the hospital they took me to the police station where
the police insinuated that I had murdered my son. The first
thing they asked me is if I had life insurance on my son. I
didn't even think about that.
From the police station I was taken to a hospital where I
stayed under an assumed name for two weeks, because if I had
checked in with my real name, I would have been arrested.
During my hospital stay, my son had a funeral, which I was not
allowed to attend. I made my own funeral by pulling out the
trundle part of my bed and had my own funeral because I could
not go to my son's.
My story continues with a very public trial, fighting a
charge of involuntary manslaughter which, thank God, I was
found not guilty. But it didn't matter to me. I was already
guilty; so full of shame and embarrassment and anger. I had
killed my son.
I cry every day for Chase. I still haven't forgiven myself,
don't know if I ever will.
After the trial, Gene Weingarten wrote a Pulitzer Prize
article called ``Fatal Distraction'' about parents who have
gone through what my family has gone through.
This didn't have to happen. If there had been a simple
alert in my car, this would not have happened. Children are
dying unnecessarily. Families are being destroyed.
In my son's honor, we have made it a mission to try to help
Congress implement some sort of a car warning system. Please, I
implore you to enact this legislation.
I know my time is running up, so I am going to be--I am
going to stop. But I want to thank you all for hearing my
testimony. And please help us.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Harrison follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Ms. Schakowsky. Thank you so much.
Ms. Fennell, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF JANETTE FENNELL
Ms. Fennell. Madam Chairwoman, I am Janette Fennell, the
founder and president of KidsAndCars.org. We are an
organization dedicated to improving safety of children in and
around motor vehicles. KidsAndCars.org appreciates the
opportunity to express our views on the HOT CARS Act and other
available technologies that will save the lives of children.
In 1996, my family was kidnapped at gunpoint in San
Francisco and locked in the trunk of our car. Thankfully, we
all survived and used this traumatic experience to help guide
the Federal regulatory process to ensure that no one else had
to end up in the trunk of a vehicle without a means of escape.
Now, all vehicles come with an internal trunk release as
standard equipment.
Though we are proud of that accomplishment, the most
important lesson we continue to learn every day is that the
simple changes to vehicles save lives. In fact, not one person
has died in a vehicle equipped with an internal trunk release,
not one.
We are showing a chart here that talk about hot car deaths.
Starting in the mid-1990s, parents were told to transport their
children in the backseat of vehicles to protect them from the
air bags in the front seat. Laws were passed requiring this
behavior, and that forever changed the way American children
are transported.
As you can see from this chart, while we have basically
eradicated children being killed by overpowered air bags,
children continue to die in hot cars.
When most people think about memory, they think about
retrospective memory, the ability to recall things from the
past. The other type of memory is prospective memory, the
ability to plan and execute an action in the future; for
example, the intention to drop a baby at daycare.
Prospective memory is more prone to forgetfulness. If
ever--if you have ever forgotten something on top of your car
or failed to run an errand, you have experienced the fickleness
of our prospective memory. Unknowingly leaving a child in a
vehicle is a prospective memory failure.
Studies show that, in autopilot, the brain is unable to
account for a change in routine. The reason is that when you
are in autopilot, you are functioning on your habit memories,
not what is exactly happening in the here and now. The catch
here is that the habit memory suppresses and completely takes
over the prospective memory, regardless of the importance of
your plan.
Autopilot is most common during times of stress and
fatigue, both of which all parents of young children
experience. These cognitive failures have nothing to do with a
parent's love for their child or the ability to care for them.
No one in this world has an infallible memory.
We need to focus on technology because we have proven, year
after year, that knowing this can happen to you when hearing it
on the news is not changing anything. A detection system is a
must. Right now, somewhere in the United States dozens of
families are going about their daily lives unaware by the
year's end, their child will die in a hot car.
Now, let's talk about frontovers. NHTSA's 2018 report
states that frontovers are responsible for 366 deaths and
15,000 injuries. Toddlers are extremely vulnerable because they
have established independent mobility at about 1 to 2 years of
age, yet they have not developed the cognitive ability to
understand danger. Young children are impulsive, unpredictable,
and still have very poor judgment. This is a real combination
for a disaster.
Automatic emergency braking or a bird's eye, or 360-degree
view technology, uses a series of cameras and sensors all
around the vehicle allowing drivers to see all sides of that
vehicle.
And now keyless ignition, this is a vehicle design flaw
that can be easily remedied with an automatic ignition shutoff
feature. Many drivers are accustomed to using a traditional key
to start and stop their vehicle. When a traditional key is
removed, that means the vehicle engine is turned off. However,
in vehicles with a keyless ignition, the driver can walk away
with their key fob in their hand while the vehicle is left
running.
And as I wrap up, I can say nothing more eloquent than a
statement that was made in Automotive News. ``All safety-
related devices should become standard equipment on all
vehicles. No choice. It is not an economic decision. It is a
moral decision. When the choice becomes profit versus lives,
the decision should be simple.''
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Fennell follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Ms. Schakowsky. Thank you so much.
I do want to announce that a vote has been called. We have
time, I think, for Mr. Shapiro's 5 minutes, and I recognize you
now, then we will break, and hopefully, all those here can come
back. I will be here.
Mr. Levine. I will be here too.
Ms. Schakowsky. OK.
STATEMENT OF GARY SHAPIRO
Mr. Shapiro. Chair Schakowsky, Ranking Member McMorris
Rodgers, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for giving
me this opportunity to testify.
The Consumer Technology Association represents over 2,200
American technology companies, 80 percent of whom are small
businesses and startups. We also own and produce CES. It is the
largest and most influential tech event in the world. It is the
largest business event in the world in Las Vegas every January.
We applaud you and this committee for addressing this
important issue, vehicle safety, especially around the busy
summer driving season. We know that many lifesaving
technologies exist, and others, such as self-driving
technology, are quickly advancing.
At CES 2018, Carol Staninger, a passionate advocate for the
welfare of children and president of Ancer, exhibited her
innovation for the first time. She was 82 years old. After
seeing news stories about children and pets accidentally left
in hot cars, Carol decided that she could make a difference
through technology. She invented a presence detector and alarm
device called Save Our Loved Ones to prevent children, seniors,
and pets from being left alone in cars.
Many other entrepreneurs have introduced devices to solve
this specific problem using connected car seats, apps, and
Bluetooth. They all help remind parents to check the backseat.
Automakers have also worked to address this problem. Nissan
has the rear-door alert system which monitors when the rear
door is open and closed, before and after the vehicle is in
motion. Several other tech-enabled safe driving products can
increase safety. There are tools to help parents monitor
teenage drivers, prevent distraction, and alert first
responders in the case of an emergency.
You have heard the statistics today 30,000 to 40,000 people
are dying every year on U.S. roads. That is more than 100
deaths per day, and 94 percent of serious crashes are due to
human error. And on average, 11 children die in auto accidents
every week-and we can prevent those tragedies.
Self-driving vehicles will lead to a huge reduction in
roadway fatalities. They cannot become distracted, fatigued, or
impaired, and they have a 360-degree viewing angle around the
vehicle. Not only will self-driving vehicles save lives, they
will empower seniors and people with disabilities. And full
adoption of self-driving vehicles could cut insurance premiums
by some 40 percent. We will see increased productivity as
people waste less time in traffic. We will need fewer parking
structures, opening new areas for green space.
And every day, there are advances in self-driving vehicles.
Many companies, both here and abroad, are already testing self-
driving vehicles, with countries like China vying for the lead.
The road to fully self-driving vehicles is a global
competition, and we expect every leading nation to confront
tough issues such as self-driving accidents, which will occur,
although in minuscule numbers compared to our national annual
carnage from human drivers.
Some argue that self-driving vehicles should not be
deployed until systems are perfect. This is a dangerous road;
as perfection may be a long, unreachable goal. Every year that
we delay self-driving, we are costing tens of thousands of
American lives. A RAND report found that deploying cars that
are just 10 percent safer than the average human driver will
save more lives than waiting until those cars are 70 percent or
90 percent better.
We will be able to save millions of lives in the future,
but only if we move forward. The perfect must not be the enemy
of the great. We don't have to wait for fully self-driving
vehicles to start reducing the number of deaths. Driver-assist
technology is already saving lives, avoiding accidents, and
paving the way for completely self-driving innovations to come.
Advanced driver assistance systems can prevent nearly 30
percent of all crashes, saving 10,000 lives a year. There are
technologies that help drowsy or inattentive drivers stay
focused and provide specific responses, such as automatic
braking and lane drift avoidance. And the aftermarket industry
provides a valuable service in allowing consumers to add these
great technologies to vehicles they already own. And Congress
and the Department of Transportation have already recognized
the value of these vehicles.
Last year the SELF DRIVE Act, which Chair Schakowsky and
Congressman Latta both introduced, as you said, and which we
supported, passed out of this committee and the House
unanimously. It would have given a jump start towards adopting
our vehicle safety laws to address self-driving and would have
made a huge difference in creating more opportunities for
testing and development. Sadly, politics got in the way of it
crossing the finish line in the Senate, but I am encouraged by
the continued efforts of the Department of Transportation and
members on both sides of the aisle to move our country forward
and advance this lifesaving technology.
I ask you to continue your leadership. There are
challenges. Much work remains to be done, but we are heading
towards zero fatalities.
Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Shapiro follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Ms. Schakowsky. Thank you very much.
Mr. Levine, we will hear from you when we come back. And
please, come right back after votes. There are three votes.
Thank you.
We are in recess.
Ms. Schakowsky. The meeting will reconvene, if Mr. Harrison
could go back to the table. Oh, there he is. OK. Thank you.
We ready, Mr. Levine?
Mr. Levine. Yes.
Ms. Schakowsky. You may proceed for 5 minutes. Thank you.
STATEMENT OF JASON LEVINE
Mr. Levine. Thank you.
Good, morning. Thank you, Chairman Pallone, Chairwoman
Schakowsky, Ranking Member Walden, and Ranking Member Rodgers,
for holding this important meeting.
My name is Jason Levine, and I am the executive director of
the Center for Auto Safety. Since 1970, the Center has been the
Nation's premier independent nonprofit advocacy organization
focused on auto safety, quality, and fuel economy. On behalf of
our members and all drivers, passengers, and pedestrians, we
work every day to get unsafe cars and trucks off the road as
quickly as possible.
There are far too many defective vehicles and unrepaired,
recalled cars and trucks on our Nation's roads. Yet our mission
has also always included pressing for vehicles of tomorrow to
be as safe as possible. In our five decades, we have
successfully advocated for car companies to install advanced
safety technology from airbags to electronic stability control,
from antilock brakes to backup cameras.
During that same time, we have urged the Department of
Transportation to create performance standards to ensure these
new technologies work as advertised, provide the appropriate
level of safety, and make safety features standard equipment
and not luxury add-ons.
Sadly, while Silicon Valley, Detroit, and Wall Street use a
lot of happy talk about millions of robot cars coming to save
the world in the next few months, back here on planet Earth,
auto crash deaths and injuries continue to represent a public
health crisis. They are the leading cause of death for 5- to
24-year-olds in the United States and are responsible for more
than 38,000 funerals annually. That is the equivalent of almost
every man, woman, and child in Park Ridge, Illinois, or
Pullman, Washington.
Unfortunately, instead of writing minimum performance
standards to require existing safety technology, the current
administration seems to prefer deferring to whatever the auto
industry finds most profitable at the moment. The crash
avoidance technology features often highlighted in TV
commercials, including automatic emergency braking, lane
departure warnings, or adaptive headlights, all exist in an
unregulated State with varying, unpredictable, and poorly
measured performance. This lack of standards leads to consumer
confusion and diminishes the increased safety protections that
this technology promises.
Moreover, even existing congressional mandates through the
Department of Transportation are regularly ignored. Rules for
rear seatbelt reminder systems, front and side impact
requirements for child seats, rollover integrity for buses, and
use of e-mail for recall notifications are each many, many
years overdue.
Sadder still, the groundbreaking New Car Assessment
Program, NCAP, better known as America's five-star crash rating
system, has been allowed to become an afterthought when
compared to our foreign competitors, all of whom base their
programs on our NCAP. This is the equivalent of the United
States no longer being a force in basketball on the world
stage.
NHTSA's failure to update the program, combined with steps
taken last year to freeze the current ratings in place, means
that receiving a five-star crash rating will soon be the
equivalent of receiving a Little League participation trophy.
The ability of safe--of the--sorry. The ability to improve
the safety of the 17 million new vehicles sold to the United
States every year remains in our collective reach. NHTSA must
set mandatory performance standards in order to create a level
playing field and ensure the safety technology meets minimum
levels of functionality. Otherwise, consumer safety is
dependent either upon economic status or seeking civil justice
after a tragedy; neither of which is a long-term solution.
Yet as part of the deregulatory fever which has gripped
NHTSA, instead of writing safety standards, the agency is
withdrawing rulemakings with known safety benefits, including
updating event data recorders and requiring electronic throttle
control to mitigate instances of sudden acceleration.
Auto safety is not now and should never be a partisan
issue. The safety of our families and friends, our neighbors on
the road, our dogs, pedestrians on our streets, the bicyclists
in our bike lanes, can be improved today through technology and
congressional leadership. We greatly appreciate this committee
shining your spotlight on an issue that impacts every single
American. On behalf of our members across the country, the
Center for Auto Safety stands ready to help you in these
efforts.
Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Levine follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Ms. Schakowsky. And we will now begin the portion where
members can ask questions. Each of us has 5 minutes, and I
will--I will begin.
Ms. Fennell, how quickly can a car reach dangerous
temperatures on a warm day?
Ms. Fennell. I think it happens much more quickly than
people understand. In fact, 80 percent of the heat that is
going to accumulate in your car happen in the first 10 minutes.
So by the time the child or anyone is in a car for as much as
an hour, the temperature has spiked as much as 40 to 50
degrees. And you can imagine, on an 80-degree day, how warm
that vehicle gets.
Ms. Schakowsky. I wanted to ask you about the technology.
As you know, right now, the HOT CARS Act does not specify any
particular technology. Are some better than others, and what
are the things that, in your view, ought to be basic essentials
in any technology?
Ms. Fennell. Well, some of the technology out there is a
very good start, but what really needs--what we really need is
something that detects the presence of a child, an animal, or
any occupants that cannot get out of the car on their own. So
what is needed is something that detects the presence of a
living being, and that is available. We demonstrated it
yesterday. So that really is what is needed to end this issue.
Ms. Schakowsky. Thank you.
Mr. Levine, I was told--maybe I--I wasn't able to see the
technologies. So I was told that something, one of them
connected to the fob. I don't have a key to my car, but I have
got a fob, which I never touch. It is in my purse. It opens the
door. I can start the car. I don't ever touch it.
Have you heard of that? I mean, I want to say that that
would not be sufficient in any way if it only dealt with that
kind of a notification. I am not so sure either about text
messages or whatever. I am not looking at my phone all the
time. And so when you think about the technologies, I am
thinking about hot cars again, do you have any suggestions that
we ought to take in mind?
Mr. Levine. Well, thank you for the question. I think that
the first issue we have identified is we need to use technology
to remind people that they make mistakes. We all make mistakes.
No mistake should cause a tragedy.
Manufacturers are experimenting with different
technologies, and I believe your fob vibrating is one of them.
Text messaging is another one. The more important question is
what is going to work, not just what is feasible. And so that
is going to require some consumer testing. That is going to
require some research study. But, obviously, the more audible
the warning, the more visible, the more--the more urgent that
warning is, the more likely we are going to save lives.
So, you know, it is good to see experiments. Maybe it is
all of those things combined. Maybe you are opting into some
and some are mandatory. But you are right; if it is something
that is not going to actually help you, then there is no point
in having it, other than putting out an advertisement.
Ms. Schakowsky. OK. I just want to go on record as saying
the two things that you said, a text message or just going to
the fob, I think is absolutely not sufficient. Wouldn't be for
me.
I wanted to--well, I think you have said, Ms. Fennell, how
this legislation would help protect children in vehicle
accidents, but what is your--what is your priority in this
legislation? What do you want to see happen? And are the
technologies there now that are sufficient to make children
safe?
Ms. Fennell. Well, thank you for that question. And I want
to piggyback a little bit on Mr. Levine's comment, because the
systems that we are seeing today have redundancy. So if a child
is locked in the car, it is really up to the OEM. Do they want
them to be a loud horn? Do they want it to be a text message?
They can choose how that person is alerted. And there are, you
know, many different layers, if The OEM picks I want those two
or those three. So, obviously, the more the better.
But there is software available now. It is called door
sequencing. So if you open your back door within 10 minutes of
leaving for your trip, when you arrive, you will get a little
flash on your dashboard that says check the rear seat, and
that--we welcome that, but it doesn't say if there is a child
in the car or not. And, for instance, if on your way to work,
you know, you have opened that back door, you go and you stop
for gas and you don't open that back door, when you arrive at
work, you will not get that notification.
So what we really want to make sure is a system that can
detect the presence of a living being and that there is
redundancy built into the system.
Ms. Schakowsky. OK. I have run out of time.
Mr. Shapiro, I thank you. And we can talk more. We had a
little conversation, but I would like more.
But I just want to say--my ranking member will--that I just
can't thank you enough, Miles and Carol, who have made their
life's mission to prevent this tragedy that you have suffered
so much. In the name of Chase, you are going to make a
difference, and I look forward to working together to prevent
others from suffering that way. So thank you once again.
I yield back.
And now I yield 5 minutes to the ranking member, Mrs.
McMorris Rodgers.
Mrs. Rodgers. Thank you, Madam Chairman. And I share those
thoughts.
I am curious, as a mom with three young kids, dealing with
car seats every day, is there any technology related to an
alarm system on the car seat itself?
Ms. Fennell. I can take that question. Yes, there are two
car seats made by Evenflo that have technology built into them.
They are a little bit higher priced than a regular car seat,
but the problem we have with that is that nobody thinks this is
going to happen to them. They may not want to pay that extra
$5. So car seats, of course, is a welcome addition to some of
the technology that is needed, but we really feel it should be
vehicle-based. Because when you think about so many years ago,
no one ever wanted an airbag and they wouldn't pay extra for
that airbag. Now we, you know--fast-forward to today. Who would
ever buy a vehicle without an airbag?
So it does, you know, take time for those things to go
through the turnover of the vehicle system; but we are really
promoting vehicle-based and car seat as a backup.
Mrs. Rodgers. OK. Thank you.
Mr. Shapiro, in your testimony, you highlighted an
entrepreneur, over 80 years old, who had a booth at CES,
focused on preventing children, seniors, and even pets from
being inadvertently left in cars. It also highlighted the
benefits of self-driving cars for all facets of society. I have
a son with special needs, Down syndrome, and I am really
excited about what self-driving cars are going to mean for him
and his future.
How do you see innovations helping us move toward safer
roadways and saving lives? In other words, how can we address
these auto safety issues through innovation and technology-
based solutions?
Mr. Shapiro. Thank you. We as an association have one
fundamental mission, and it is focused on innovation and
improving people's lives. So we are pretty passionate about it.
And I think there is a role for industry, there is a role for
consumer groups, and there is a role for government.
To me, the role of government is to, in a sense, encourage
innovation and also create the regulatory guardrails so that we
can proceed and also have competition, because competition--
there are so many solutions to this problem. We are seeing it
in the competitive marketplace. You can see it in the patent
filings. You can see it--and it is not just about this issue.
To me, the bigger answer, in a sense, is, since it takes so
long to get a rule, a rulemaking, a process to go forward, to
get it implemented, the aging cars we have, the average is 12
years, young parents with kids aren't likely to buy a new car,
the big--the quicker answer to me is to get us to self-driving
and the levels there as quickly as possible. Because if you
think about self-driving, the advantage of that is, first of
all, we obviously have fewer accidents and we are going--I
expect that we are going to start having it as soon as we have
these steps to self-driving.
The second is--and Ms. Fennell really hit home this point
well for me--is that part of the challenge is, is that we are
away from our children by sitting in the front. It makes sense,
from a safety point of view, while you are mobile; but with
self-driving, that won't be necessary anymore. You will be--
most likely, you will be in the back with your kids, and that
type of incidence will be helped, but we will also obviously
have collision avoidance.
And the other thing with self-driving, we will have--by
definition, self-driving cars, I believe, will have to be able
to detect the- presence of beings, because there is not going
to be a steering wheel in a future. You know, it will take a
while to get there, and there is not going to be all the other
things you have in a car, and you will have living
environments, but they have to respond to the people that are
in there. The people could have--for example, what if the
person in the car has a heart attack or something like that?
The vehicle has to know that. So when you are in a self-driving
vehicle, as a being of any age or size, the vehicle will know
about that and presumably have some communication mechanism and
ability to alert emergency or to go to a hospital, things like
that.
So 25, 30 years from now, if we don't mess it up, if we--if
we proceed as fast as we can to stop those 30,000-plus deaths a
year and hundreds of thousands of incidents, this issue also
will be an issue of the past, and this will--the horror that
Mr. Harrison went through will never have to happen again. And
that is why I think, in a sense, there is a dual path.
There is the legislation here that is now before you. Stand
alone and you have to decide whether that is important enough
to make it a priority in a way under any scenario will take
several years, but also I would urge you to push the
legislation this committee already passed unanimously so we can
proceed as a country, instead of starting to get behind, where
we have a national approach, we make it a national goal, and we
get there, and then we eliminate well over 90 percent of deaths
and injuries. And there are so many benefits from that.
Also, as a--just trying to get kids around as a parent, I
am looking forward to that.
Mrs. Rodgers. Thank you.
Now, I am very excited about self-driving cars on a number
of fronts, although yesterday, I was told that they are also
going to notify--the potential of notifying you of when your
weight goes up, which I am not sure I am excited about that.
Mr. Shapiro. We talked about that.
Ms. Schakowsky. We agree there.
Mrs. Rodgers. Thank you. I was--yes, I am out of time too.
I was interested, Mr. Harrison, just in hearing what
technology you are most excited about, but maybe you can
address that later. Thank you.
Mr. Harrison. Thank you, ma'am.
Mrs. Rodgers. I will yield back.
Ms. Schakowsky. If I could, at the end, I want to ask a
question about self-driving cars and algorithms that may
inadvertently be discriminatory. So I will do that.
Mr. Cardena is next for 5 minutes.
Mr. Cardena. Thank you very much, Madam Chair and Ranking
Member, for holding this very critical and important and
emotional issue.
The loss of life, each life is very tragic, and the fact
that we are such an amazing country with so much technology and
so much ability to right these situations quicker than probably
anywhere on the planet, I think this hearing is important that
we hear about technology and we hear also about how dire that
pain is when these tragedies occur.
For example, according to KidsAndCars, we lost 62 children
from backover/frontover collisions. And, again, that is 62 too
many. That is one too many, et cetera. And as a parent and a
grandparent, it is this lens that I have now of being a
grandparent, it is even more critical to me, all of these
issues.
The first question I would like to ask is to Ms. Fennell.
What sorts of safety tips can parents and children follow to
avoid a backover or frontover tragedy?
Ms. Fennell. Thank you very much for that question. What we
tell parents is to make sure that you walk all the way around
your vehicle before you ever move it, because there could be
children behind or in front of the vehicle. And they tend--when
you are leaving, they want to come and give you a kiss goodbye.
They just want to wave, and they don't understand that you may
not be able to see them. So, you know, make sure that you walk
all the way around.
And we also suggest, because this is very available, if you
don't already have built-in cameras and things, you can get
these aftermarket. Because so many people say to me all the
time, oh, when I get a new car, I want to get one of those, you
know, rearview cameras. I am, like, you don't have to wait. You
can get that. It is pretty darn economical, and you just don't
want to be backing blindly.
Mr. Cardena. I think one thing the Government can actually
do is help subsidize retrofitting older vehicles with these
devices so that it can become more prevalent more quickly. That
could be something the Government could encourage and invest in
saving lives. That is one aspect. So thank you for sharing that
with us. And you are not just talking to us; you are talking to
the American people right now. So thank you for sharing that
knowledge.
I would also like to thank you, Miles Harrison, for sharing
what it is like to go through what you have gone through.
Chase, we all wish he we were here with us, but you and Carol
are here with us and you are dedicating your lives to unborn
children, to families who have yet to have children, and all of
us who have precious little ones in our lives.
I think that your courage and your willingness to allow
yourself to be so confronted with this pain every day in front
of all of us and the public proves that you are innocent. It
proves that what you went through in that trial was an
overburden by our society that, in my opinion, was not
necessary. And as a Christian myself, I notice that you
mentioned that you have yet to forgive yourself. Well, I am of
the feeling and the opinion that forgiveness was not something
that you needed, because from where I come from, forgiveness is
something that you get later after something. I do not think
that you were required forgiveness because you didn't do
anything in malice. You loved Chase, that is obvious. And I
admire you for your strength.
I just hope and pray that we as representatives of the
people, of the people's House, will do our job and to show the
amount of strength and the responsibility and the energy and
the time that we and our staffs should put forth to make these
solutions more real as quickly as possible. Because every day
that goes by, this could and does happen in America. So, again,
thank you for your courage and thank you for being here.
And, Carol, thank you for sharing your words with me and
giving me advice. And there are many, many things that we can
do, and hopefully, we will do them as quickly as possible.
I yield back.
Ms. Schakowsky. Thank you.
I now yield to Mr. Latta for 5 minutes.
Mr. Latta. I thank you, Madam Chair. Again, thanks for
having today's hearing.
And, Mr. Shapiro, if I could ask you my first question,
and, again, going back to self-drive technology. And, you know,
when we worked on the legislation last year, we wanted to make
sure that safety was always first, last, and always. We wanted
to make sure that we had cyber security being built in the
vehicles, that we also had privacy, making sure that those
concerns were addressed. And also, with the issues with our
senior citizens who are no longer mobile, that they would have
the ability to get out again; our friends that had
disabilities, that they had the opportunity, that they were
able to be mobile and to go to a job. Just like Mr. Harper, who
was our vice chairman at the time; his son has a disability,
and he said that if he or his wife weren't home, that they
wouldn't be able to get him to work each day, and why it is so
important.
And in 2016, the Department of Transportation had the
competition for a Smart City Challenge out there for innovative
and smart solutions that could occur out there, and the city of
Columbus won, in Ohio, because they were wanting to address the
alarmingly high rate of infant mortality that they had in the
city.
And I would like to ask you, do you see more communities
integrating self-driving vehicles and their services to address
more community concerns out there, and what those concerns
could be addressed by?
Mr. Shapiro. Yes, thank you for that question. Smart cities
is a very vital part of our future for so many different
reasons. It goes to resiliency. It goes to energy efficiency,
being green. It goes to having near you everything you need in
serving populations, especially as we are moving to cities. It
is not just the United States, around the world, whereas 40 or
50 years ago, two-thirds of us lived outside cities, soon two-
thirds of us will live in cities.
So smart cities themselves, what they do is they--the
structure changes, even how you build the city, how many
parking spaces you have, how people get around, and micro
transportation and options and everything else. But what we see
with self-driving cars, that is a vital part. And Ford,
recently at CES, the CEO presented a vision of a smart city and
showed how you redesign the city and you use self-driving cars
to get around, and it just changes everything.
And, obviously, what goes away are so many things that we
are spending money on today, both as a Government and as
people, in terms of if you don't have--if you have self-driving
cars, if you get rid of 90 percent or more of collisions, it is
not only the 30,000, 40,000 people that die, it is the hundreds
of thousands, if not millions, that are injured. It is the
cost. It is the auto insurance cost, the collision repair cost.
There are so many things that change fundamentally.
And you actually need fewer cars in a city, which in
theory, should cut down on congestion. You need less parking in
a city, and all of a sudden green spaces open up. So this is--
the way we actually have CES in Las Vegas is we actually have
smart cities and we have a lot of self-driving right nearby
because it is just part of what it is. And a lot of the
demonstration projects we are seeing in the beginning are self-
driving vehicles on a--on a course--on an area--a community, a
business entity area, a residential community for older people,
where you have smart-driving vehicles--self-driving vehicles
actually going around. So, yes, it changes everything, and that
is where we are heading as a world.
You know, some of us would just like to have timed traffic
lights, but we have to go much, much further and much quicker.
And that is where the Government has a major role to end this
tragedy on our highways. There are so many things we will do
with self-driving cars, and we are getting closer every year.
I honestly don't think this is happy talk. This is real.
There are demonstrations. I have been in several self-driving
cars myself, and they are safer and they are better and they
will solve this problem totally.
Mr. Levine. Well, thank you.
Mr. Latta.Let me go on. You know, with the SELF DRIVE Act
that I introduced with our chair in the last Congress, and it
passed the House unanimously, could you also explain some,
how--when we are talking about how it can improve the highway
safety--I know you touched on it a little bit, but really get
into a little more detail on how we can make these roads safer
out there, because of 37,000 lives we lost last year alone.
Mr. Shapiro. Well, what we are seeing in consumers, one,
is--and the Act will help--is make it a national approach.
Right now, if you want to go to California in a self-driving
car to Nevada, you literally have to change your license plate
at the border. That is not how we operate as a country. That is
not what--I mean, one of our competitive advantages over
Europe, frankly, is the fact that we have one language, one
land, and the rules which--affecting vehicles are really more
on licensing and things like that.
So the self-driving act does so many different things to
allow testing, to encourage testing to move us forward, but
what we are seeing--and I want to get this point out, if I may,
Madam Chair--is that consumers have chosen--the biggest
surprise that I had at the end of 1998 is when--because we--I
am sorry--2018, is that when we issue our annual statistics and
forecasts, we had to raise by a billion dollars what Americans
are spending on car electronics.
And I dug deep and I said, why is this? What did we get
wrong a year ago? And what we got wrong was Americans' desire
to load up their cars with safety options, that are going to
dealerships, and all these things which lead us to self-
driving, going to Level 2 and Level 3, they want that in their
cars. So they are choosing, actually, with their pocketbooks to
get these features. And that bodes really well for investment
by the car companies. It bodes well for what consumers wants.
Mr. Latta. Thank you very much.
Madam Chair, my time has expired, and I yield back. And I
appreciate your indulgence.
Ms. Schakowsky. Thank you.
Congresswoman Blunt Rochester, you have 5 minutes.
Ms. Blunt Rochester. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, for
calling this important hearing on summer driving dangers.
I first want to say to Ms. Fennell, thank you so much for
sharing your story and for the work that you are doing.
I thank all of the panelists for your testimony.
I especially want to say something to Mr. and Mrs.
Harrison. As a parent, I sit before you and think about all the
parents across the country, all the families. And I think about
the fact that how I got to this position was unexpectedly being
widowed at the age of 52. And I am from the State of Delaware,
and I remember being in the hospital that day and our Vice
President called and said, may the day come when your loved
one's name brings a smile to your face before a tear to your
eye.
And as I see you cry those tears, I want you both to know
that Chase is here, you are creating a legacy for him, and
there will be a day when we pass these bills and you will be
able to smile, smile broadly, and know that your work is not in
vein and that you turned your pain into purpose. So thank you
so much for sharing. Thank you for staying on the battlefield.
And thank you all for the work that you are doing. Just
wanted you to know that.
Now I am going to take a breath and turn to my questions.
For my State in Delaware, automobile safety is very important.
And I would like to echo Chairman Pallone's opening that it is
fitting that we are having this hearing Memorial Day weekend.
Delaware saw approximately 9 million visitors in 2017, and some
of those visitors, vehicle safety was crucial to saving their
lives, their children, pedestrians, and families.
We also have the major I95 corridor that goes up and down
the East Coast, So this is really important. And Delaware saw
119 automobile-related fatalities in 2017, which was greater
than the previous 2 years. So this is important, this
discussion, not just to Delaware, but to our country.
And I want to ask my first question to Mr. Levine. Thank
you, again, for your testimony. We all agree that these
technologies have the potential to radically change the
automobile travel in our country and safety, but I am concerned
that access to these lifesaving technologies is sometimes
determined, in large part, by income. If you could talk to us
about the fact that, you know, you have these things like land
departure warnings, backup cameras, and things like that that
are all also sold as like luxury item packages. They are put in
as upgrades. And I understand that JD Power, in 2015, the study
said that consumers are willing to pay for safety features but
up to a certain limit.
And so if you could just talk about how widespread this is,
this issue of bundling these things. And do you believe that
safety enhancing features as part of an expensive add-on or
bundle discourages consumers from buying these safety features?
Mr. Levine. Thank you for the question. And I think the
short answer is, yes, it does. We have a history of the auto
industry very successfully taking longer than probably is
necessary once safety technology has met a certain level of
performance requirements in terms of seeing it as a standard,
and has used that interim time to sell it as a luxury feature.
We need to look no further than the backup cameras, which
took 10 years from the moment at which they were readily
available in terms of the technology and reasonably priced in
terms of integrating it into the system, until they became
mandatory. And during that period of time, all of a sudden it
became part of a leather seat package, a moon roof package that
really undercuts the ability for everyone to prevent that awful
mistake.
Ms. Blunt Rochester. And should NHTSA be doing more to
require safety features on all new vehicles? I have 43 seconds,
and anybody can jump in also, if there are ideas to help
consumers to be able to access these features.
Mr. Levine. Real quick, there is a number of existing
mandates over at NHTSA in terms of safety rules that they could
move forward very quickly and some other things that they could
start the process of to move things forward to get everyone the
safety devices.
Ms. Blunt Rochester. I have 27 seconds.
Ms. Fennell. I would like to just say there is a pending
rule for rear seatbelt reminders that would save thousands and
thousands of lives. We know a reminder for putting on your
seatbelt will help. We tell everyone to put their children in
the backseat, but there is not a reminder back there. It should
have been finished in October of 2015. It has not even been
started yet.
Ms. Blunt Rochester. I yield back the balance of my time.
And thank you so much.
Ms. Schakowsky. Thank you.
Mr. Buchson, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Buchson. Thank you very much.
And thank you for all your testimony.
You know, one of the most common things we are having
trouble with now is distracted driving from cell phone usage,
right? I have four kids. They are 26, 24, 21, and 15. Three of
them drive, one is going to. Is there any technology right now
that could prevent people from being on their phone when they
are driving?
Ms. Fennell, I will start with you, and then Mr. Shapiro, I
guess, whoever feels like they can answer that question the
best.
I mean, we have to go--you know, they asked--I can't
remember--Willie Horton, why do you rob banks? He said, ``that
is where the money is.''
And so this is one of the biggest problems that we have in
our country are distracted driving by everyone really. Is there
something we can do about it?
Mr. Levine. So I will start. I mean, there are a number of
technologies that are being tested that either can disable
phone use inside the vehicle. Obviously, there is some consumer
acceptance concerns of that, because if you are not the driver,
there is a level of I want to be able to still use my phone. So
there is a weighing of the safety----
Mr. Buchson. Can I make a quick comment? My dad, he died at
age 84, and he never put his seatbelt on. So he was resistant
to that.
So we still mandated seatbelts in automobiles, right?
Mr. Levine. So we are--you know, we would be okay with
that. I am just, you know----
Ms. Blunt Rochester. I understand.
Mr. Levine [continuing]. Explaining part of the reason. And
there is other--there is aftermarket technology. The phones
themselves have the technology. I think we also need an ability
to have a larger conversation, which this committee has started
and continues, on the idea of how terribly dangerous distracted
driving is. I think people still think it is not the same thing
as drinking or being on drugs or other distractions. It is
equally as deadly.
Mr. Buchson. Anybody else have any comments?
Mr. Shapiro. Sure. The increase in driving deaths is
troubling, and part of it can be attributed to lower gas prices
and the fact that people are driving more, the economy is doing
better, but not all of it. And definitely, there is a
distracted driving issue.
I think we did a really good job several years ago of
alerting people to it. We had a lot of public education
campaigns. We worked very hard on it. I think companies like
Apple and other cell phone companies have said, you know, you
have to punch in ``I am not driving,'' especially--even if you
are a passenger, and that is a good solution. But the--it seems
that the nature of the technology is such that it becomes more
urgent and it is almost like you get a little hormone thing
too. It is difficult not to answer.
And then there are solutions coming a little bit quicker.
The smart speaker is migrating to the car, and that allows you
to use your voice, if you will, as a medium, rather than
looking down and using your hands. You can have your e-mails
and other things read to you. There is a lot of different
things there.
And also there is, frankly, these passive and active
reminders that are increasingly in cars that tell you if you
have gone over the line. It vibrates your seat or makes a
noise, and these are solutions. And the advantage of these
being introduced the way they are by the car companies is
consumers are becoming, not only comfortable with them, but
they want them. Yes, they do have to pay more for them in the
beginning, but there is a competitive marketplace in the
beginning as to which ideas win, how they can perfect it. And
there is an economy of scale which as you make more of these,
and the right ones survive, they go down dramatically in cost.
So the Government, I think, and your job as Congress, is to
figure out that fine line between mandating something that
could be cost effective for everyone and not impose a huge cost
that would cost a lot more to buy a car, and going the other
way and saying, ``Wait a second. We will just leave this to the
free marketplace forever. These safety devices may have value
but not enough to mandate.''
So you have to figure out that balance line. I would urge
that competition, especially for new products being introduced,
publicize, get them out there, see which ones are the best, and
see how consumers react to them. But we have a lot of solutions
coming as we get to the holy grail, which is the self-driving
car.
Mr. Buchson. All right. I will follow up with you on
another question, Mr. Shapiro.
Most rural parts of this country--I represent a lot of
rural areas--people have to travel great distances to receive
medical care. So this is a potential area of self-driving that
could really be beneficial, right? The closest hospital may be
the next town over, and specialists may be hundreds of miles
away.
Can you talk about maybe how self-driving vehicles, not
only just for convenience, but actually for things like going
to see a doctor or--especially for rural parts of America, how
it might benefit people more broadly as it relates to that?
Mr. Shapiro. That is a hugely important point, Congressman.
I appreciate you raising it. Rural America is not well-served
by a lot of our whole U.S. infrastructure today, and it is a
challenge. Self-driving cars clearly will make a difference
because that will provide for--especially for a lot of--a large
portion of elderly people cannot drive even, and it will allow
them to be served and serviced.
And also, since we have such an active group that is
proceeding so quickly in technology, telemedicine is
increasingly big, and we need to break down barriers for that
as well. You shouldn't always have to get into a car to see
your doctor. We have found in our own operation, for example,
that if you just let people talk to a doctor, they may not have
to go to the emergency room. But yet you will serve, not only
all the elderly people, rural people, people with disabilities
and others, and they need to be empowered. We shouldn't have
such a large percentage of our population eliminated from the
services we can provide to get them healthy, to see things, and
do things.
Mr. Buchson. Thank you very much. I yield back.
Ms. Schakowsky. Mr. Carter, you are recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. Carter. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I thank all of you for being here this very important
subject.
Mr. Harrison, thank you especially. I can only imagine the
pain, but I want you to know that your courage is an
inspiration to all of us. And thank you. Thank you for being
here.
Mr. Shapiro, let me ask you, and kind of to follow up on
Dr. Bucshon's questions about distracted driving. You know, we
concentrate a lot of times on DWI and impaired driving, but
distracted driving is a big problem. I mean, we have all
experienced it. And, listen, I am as bad as anybody, I admit,
and I need to do better with that.
But distracted driving, as we get--as we have more of this,
and we do have more of it, because we are--we are a society now
that is--you got to have it right now. I mean, the phone rings,
you have got to answer it right now. You know, you get an e-
mail, you have got to answer it right now. And that is just the
kind of society we are right now.
Are there any--any ways to educate and incentivize drivers
like me that are distracted to change our behavior?
Mr. Shapiro. I don't know about incentivizing you, because
I don't want to violate any ethics rules, but in terms of--
there is a huge number of innovative technological solutions
that people are selling. For example, let's say your teenager,
you want to track what they are doing and how they are driving,
you can. Insurance companies will increasingly say you can get
a lower rate if we could put--you know, track your driving for
a while or always, to see whether----
Mr. Carter. There is a financial----
Mr. Shapiro. There are some marketplace things out there
and there is a lot of self--there is a lot of technology.
Increasingly, for example, there is technology which monitors
your eyes. And if your eyes are away from the road for more
than a couple of seconds, it sends off an alert. There is that,
as I said, if you go over the line, increasingly in a large
number of cars you get a passive indication, your wheel
vibrates, or your seat vibrates. So there is a noise which lets
you know you have done that.
So there is a lot of solutions out there, just as--but, you
know, the fact that there are technological solutions doesn't
mean they are activated. For example, with drunk driving, we
have known how to cure drunk driving for 30 years. We know you
could test someone before they start their car, and we have
chosen--not we. We collectively as government and people have
chosen not to implement that.
But I think we need to do more in public awareness. I think
we need to do more in terms of publicizing these things that
are out there, and I think the insurance companies have their
role to play. But, yes, it is definitely a problem. And there
is different State laws. Like if you are at one of these lights
here in Virginia where our organization is, you could wait
there for two minutes, and how could you resist looking at your
device. But in some States, that is illegal.
Mr. Carter. Right, right. And in the State of Georgia we
have made it illegal, or the legislature has passed legislation
to make it illegal, and I welcome that. I think it is
necessary, and certainly, we have got to change that. I
understand.
You have talked a lot about self-driving cars, Mr. Shapiro,
and that is obviously the wave of the future. What do you see
as the most impactful technologies that are coming out there? I
mean, if I had to--if you had to list, you know, this is really
going to be a game changer, is there something like that out
there?
Mr. Shapiro. Well, self-driving cars is the answer, but
there are many steps to get to the answer. It is not digital
where you are either there or you are not. I mean, it is easier
to do in climates where there aren't snow and hail and rain and
things like that, and there are so many things and steps and
different companies along the way that have to do things
really, really well to make this work. I mean, we have the
camera technologies got down dramatically. Some of the new cars
today have several cameras on them, but someone has to process
that.
And, for example, there is something called LIDAR, which is
very expensive. It is a couple thousand dollars now, but that
really allows--like cameras aren't the only answer, although
Tesla takes the approach that cameras are the only the answer.
The problem is that cameras do not really work that well at
night, and they see two dimensionally. LIDAR actually picks up
where cameras wear off.
So I am not going to say there is one answer. I am going to
say the answer is redundancy and making sure that cars are
safe.
Mr. Carter. Let me ask you this. Not to interrupt you, but
let me ask you. I have got my truck. You know, it is a 2004. It
has got 408,000 miles on it. I mean, obviously, it doesn't have
any of this technology. Is there any kind of aftermarket
technology that can be applied? Because the average--the
average person keeps a car for, what, 10-1/2, 11 years?
Mr. Shapiro. It is about almost approaching 12 years now.
And you are absolutely right; this is going to be an evolution
over years, and there will be aftermarket solutions, but I do
not know if there will be total solutions. So the question is--
but if we have--it is like think of the measles vaccine, if you
will. The higher percentage of self-driving cars we get out
there, the safer everyone is.
Mr. Carter. Right.
Mr. Shapiro. And how we address the last 10 or 15, 20
percent, I think there should be some good, healthy discussion.
It could be those car--your car might have, even though it is
old, might have higher insurance premiums on it because you are
less safe than everyone else.
So we will get to those problems. Those are not the big
problems. I think the issue is how do we get this legislation
passed, which came out of this committee the last Congress,
bipartisan unanimously. How do we get it so we are working as a
country towards a goal? And that goal, in my view, could be
clearly stated by X date, we have X number of fewer percentage
deaths. And that is what we should be doing in the country.
Mr. Carter. Well, thank you again.
Thank you all for being here.
And I yield back.
Ms. Schakowsky. I would like to thank all of our witnesses
for their participation in today's hearing.
We have some documents to submit for the record. I request
unanimous consent to enter them into the record. I will read
them. A letter from Securing America's Future Energy; a letter
from the United States Chamber of Commerce's Technology
Engagement Center; a statement from Jennifer Huddleston and
Ryan Skorup, research fellows from the Mercatus Center at
George Mason University; a letter from Marc Scribner from
Competitive Enterprise Institute; a statement of Catherine
Chase, president of the advocate--Advocates for Highway Safety
Auto--and Auto Safety; a letter from the National Security
Council.
Without objection, I would like to insert them into the
record.
Hearing none, so ordered.
[Material submitted for inclusion in the record follows:]
Ms. Schakowsky. I remind Members that pursuant to committee
rules, they have 10 business days to submit additional
questions for the record to be answered by the witnesses who
have appeared. I ask each witness to respond promptly to any
such questions that you may receive.
And at this time, the subcommittee is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 12:28 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
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