U.S. Legislative Issues
White House Disbands Infrastructure Council
On August 17, the White House announced President Trump’s nascent Advisory Council on Infrastructure would not be moving forward. Established by executive order in July, the advisory panel was to be made up of 15 members representing real estate, finance, labor and other sectors. Its purpose was to study and make recommendations regarding the funding, support, and delivery of up to $1 trillion in public infrastructure projects. Before disbanding the still-forming Council, the President also signed an executive order intended to accelerate the review and permitting process for major construction projects.
The impact of dissolving the infrastructure panel isn’t yet known. White House officials say they still hope to get an infrastructure bill approved by Thanksgiving and will release details of their plan this fall. The new plan, the administration said, will propose using $200 billion from federal accounts to leverage $800 billion from private capital. Adhering to the administration’s timeline will be difficult given that Congressional Republicans are currently focused on writing and passing a tax reform bill that is likely to dominate the next several months.
NTSB Releases Speeding-Related Crash Safety Study
On July 25, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released the results of its safety study on reducing speeding-related passenger vehicle crashes on the nation’s roads. In the study, the NTSB recommends completion of all actions in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) 2014 Speed Management Program Plan; assessment of the effectiveness of point-to-point speed enforcement in the U.S.; incentivizing passenger vehicle manufacturers and consumers to adopt intelligent speed adaptation systems; increasing the adoption of speeding-related Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria Guideline data elements; and improving consistency in law enforcement reporting of speeding-related crashes.
The NTSB previously identified speeding as a safety issue among drivers of heavy vehicles in work zones and at locations with site specific hazards. However, the NTSB has not often addressed the safety issue among passenger vehicle drivers. This study highlights the scope of speeding-related passenger vehicle crashes, illustrates the risks of speeding and describes driver attitudes toward speeding, both by themselves and by other drivers.
The NTSB found the relationship between speed and crash involvement is complex and is affected by a number of factors, however, speed – and therefore speeding – increases crash risk both in terms of the likelihood of being involved in a crash and in terms of the severity of injuries sustained by those involved in speeding-related crashes. The study links speeding to 112,580 highway crash fatalities between 2005-2014. To put that number in perspective, the NTSB reports that nearly the same number of people – 112,948 – died in alcohol-involved crashes in the same period. A synopsis of the NTSB safety study "Reducing Speeding-Related Crashes Involving Passenger Vehicles," including the findings and a complete list of the safety recommendations, is available here.
White House Moves Closer to Issuing New Autonomous Vehicle Technology Guidance
According to an August 16 notice, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is currently reviewing voluntary U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) guidance for self-driving vehicle technologies. The OMB review is the final step in the regulatory process before the guidance is published. This is in line with comments made by DOT Secretary Elaine Chao during a July 13 Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, in which she said the department was aiming to issue new guidance for autonomous vehicles in September.
DOT released its initial version of self-driving vehicle guidance in September 2016. Those guidelines asked car manufacturers to complete a 15-point checklist that covers design, testing procedures and other areas as well as a model framework for states developing autonomous vehicle policy.
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