--- title: "U.S. House Unanimously Passes Bill to Speed Development of Self-Driving Cars" description: "What's more remarkable: the legislation, or the fact that Congress actually agrees on something?" date: "2017-09-06" modified: "2017-09-06" authors: - name: "Kyle Cheromcha" job_title: "Editor-in-Chief" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/tech/14133/u-s-house-unanimously-passes-bill-to-speed-development-of-self-driving-cars" categories: - "News" tags: - "autonomous" - "congress" - "regulations" - "self drive act" - "self-driving cars" --- # U.S. House Unanimously Passes Bill to Speed Development of Self-Driving Cars ![]() *\www.thedrive.com\* Think of how hard it is to put 435 adults in a room and get every single one to agree on something. Now replace "adults" with "elected politicians" and "a room" with "Congress," and it gets even tougher. So it's no small thing that the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a massive bill on Wednesday aimed at speeding the development of [self-driving cars]() on public roads and superseding the patchwork of regulations in individual states. [As *The Drive* reported]() earlier this morning, the [Self Drive Act]() allows companies like Waymo, Uber, General Motors, and Ford to push out 25,000 autonomous cars per year that don't comply with current passenger car safety regulations—you know, like having a steering wheel, or accelerator and brake pedals. That cap would rise to 100,000 per company per year in three years' time. Tasked with enacting these new standards will be the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, though President Donald Trump has yet to appoint a leader for the agency. Nevertheless, U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, whose department runs the NHTSA, will be revealing the updated guidelines at an event next Tuesday in Michigan, [according to *Reuters.*]() The one thing the Self Drive Act doesn't deal with is commercial applications like trucking, which many see as an ideal proving ground for real-world integration of autonomous technologies. A competing Senate bill under development may reportedly include regulations for self-driving trucks, [but *Axios* reports]() opposition among labor unions remains high. "With this legislation, innovation can flourish without the heavy hand of government," said Rep. Bob Latta, Republican of Ohio, [according to *Bloomberg.*]() Of course, some critics and consumer advocates have pointed out that "the heavy hand of government" can be extremely beneficial when developing complex, [potentially dangerous technologies.]() But companies aren't given entirely free reign under the new law; they'll still have to develop cybersecurity and privacy protections, and submit regular "safety assessments" to the federal government. Predictably, automakers are overall pleased with this latest development, though the bill will still have to make it through the U.S. Senate and across President Trump's desk before becoming law. "Automakers have been developing these technologies for years and this legislation helps address a variety of barriers that otherwise block the ability to safely test and deploy these vehicle technologies," the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group representing GM, Ford, Volkswagen AG, and several other automakers said in a statement to *Bloomberg.* ## Author Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()