Source: (Photo by Rod Lamkey-Pool/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Autonomous vehicles are the way of the future when it comes to road safety. At least that’s the belief of Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.)

Young spoke before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, for which he is the ranking member, on Tuesday and spoke at length as to why he feels technological innovation needs to be heavily invested in when it comes to keeping people safe on roadways.

“Every year thousands of lives are tragically cut short due to vehicle crashes,” Young said. “In 2023 alone, nearly 41,000 people lost their lives on American roads. These staggering figures underscore the urgent need for innovative solutions to make our roads safer.”

Young boasted that autonomous vehicles will play a key factor in bringing that number down.

“Unlike human drivers, autonomous vehicles do not get distracted, tired, or impaired,” he continued. “They can react to hazards more quickly and make split-second decisions based on vast amounts of data that no human could process.”

Young said this innovation can play a critical role in keeping kids safe on school buses and at school bus stops as well, at which point he promoted his Stop For School Busses Act, which passed out of Congress a few years ago.

The committee heard the testimony of several road safety experts during the nearly two-hour-long hearing.

Jeff Farrah is head of the Autonomous Vehicles Industry Association and urged the committee to take serious action to promote the innovation of self-driving cars. He said “the country has hit a wall” when it comes to driver and pedestrian safety, blaming that “wall” on human behavior like speeding and distracted or impaired driving.

But, both Young and Farrah acknowledge that public trust in autonomous cars is not very high yet. Both urged the committee to consider pushing educational campaigns to help build that trust.