US Senate Considers Making Cars Less Safe Under Guise of Affordability
Senate Republicans in a January meeting will take aim at safety tech including automated emergency braking and rear-seat reminders.
The US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will start 2026 off by questioning the effectiveness of life-saving driver assistance technology. Per the Wall Street Journal (sub required), top executives at the Detroit Big Three as well as from Tesla have been invited before the committee to discuss "why vehicles have become so expensive." It couldn't be tariffs, no...
Don't get us wrong, affordability is a real concern. Kelley Blue Book saw average US new-car transaction prices cross $50,000 for the first time ever in September. That average fell back to $49,766 a month later, with the expected dip in expensive EV sales due to the federal incentive program ending being a major contributing factor. Don't forget, America's love affair with SUVs—larger, less efficient, and pricier than their comparative car models—has also contributed to the surge in average transaction costs this decade.
But safety systems? There's a proven track record there. In a recent study from the Partnership for Analytics Research in Traffic Safety (PARTS), itself a collaborative effort between the government's own NHTSA and multiple automakers, automated emergency braking (AEB) systems resulted in a 49-percent reduction in front-to-rear vehicle crashes. This wasn't a small study either: it covered 98 million vehicles, and 21.2 million crashes, encompassing models built from 2015 through to 2023.
What's more, the study saw increased effectiveness in the newer systems: 46-percent effectiveness for model years 2015–2017 contrasts with 52-percent effectiveness for 2021–2023. A nine-percent reduction in single-vehicle accidents involving pedestrians, cyclists, scooters or wheelchairs is also notable, as pedestrian deaths account for 18 percent of all traffic-related fatalities, according to the NHTSA.
Rear-seat reminders are a newer addition to many vehicles, including more advanced, radar-based systems. These systems are meant to prevent heatstroke deaths of young children: in 2024, 39 children died in the US after being left in hot cars.
Perhaps oddest given the Committee's supposed target of affordability, the WSJ says that in addition to questioning the value of these life-saving measures, the committee will "argue instead for advancing autonomous vehicle technology." Because that technology is affordable, and certainly doesn't come with its own safety concerns. Tesla's own misleadingly-named Full Self Driving (FSD) is currently the subject of a NHTSA investigation involving 2.9 million vehicles.
Spokespeople for General Motors and Ford told the WSJ that both companies were considering sending CEOs to this Senate Committee hearing, set for January 14.
Become an AutoGuide insider. Get the latest from the automotive world first by subscribing to our newsletter here.
Kyle began his automotive obsession before he even started school, courtesy of a remote control Porsche and various LEGO sets. He later studied advertising and graphic design at Humber College, which led him to writing about cars (both real and digital). He is now a proud member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC), where he was the Journalist of the Year runner-up for 2021.
More by Kyle Patrick
Comments
Join the conversation
I have an 2020 Subaru & every driver assistance tech that can be turned off is off. I really don't need the car doing these things for me.
It's called PAY ATTENTION while driving.
Agree with commentators above. We can't afford the full time nanny. Few can. The vast majority don't want most of what the nanny does. Yes, how about the money for cancer screening, or healthier food in schools, etc.