WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today urged the Obama administration to work collaboratively with Congress to promote initiatives accelerating vehicle automation and safety innovations. He also indicated that the committee will hold a hearing early this year.

“The Department of Transportation’s announced readiness to remove obstacles for automated vehicle technology, while still prioritizing safety, is an opportunity for this administration and Congress to work together,” said Thune. “I urge the administration to work collaboratively with both Congress and private sector innovators in setting program priorities. Early this year, as a continuation of our committee’s work to promote safety technologies and an innovation economy, the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on developing automated vehicle technologies and how the federal government can play a constructive role.”

The recently-enacted bipartisan surface transportation reauthorization bill, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, included provisions from the Senate Commerce Committee to improve the safety of the traveling public. These include incentives for vehicle crash avoidance technology and increased funding for vehicle safety efforts if the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrationimplements reforms recommended in an independent audit. Last year, Senate Commerce Committee members proposed a consensus framework for a multi-agency effort to manage the spectrum necessary for putting vehicle-to-vehicle communication technology in new vehicles which agencies, including the Department of Transportation, are now pursuing.