NAFA Needs Your Help in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. House and Senate are currently considering legislation for highly autonomous vehicles (HAVs). One of the issues being debated is whether fleet managers will have real-time access to vehicle- and engine-generated data, which NAFA believes is critical. The immediate question is whether Congressional leaders will include data access in the final legislation.

Whether vehicles are owned or leased, fleet managers rely on direct access to the data to monitor the engine, the vehicle, and driver. NAFA’s position is that the owner or lessee of the vehicle should have direct, real-time access to data collected, generated, recorded, or stored by the vehicle (vehicle-generated data), including data for emissions control, diagnosis, repair, and maintenance.

The Senate Commerce Committee has approved S. 1885, the AV START Act, which includes a NAFA-supported amendment sponsored by Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and adopted with bi-partisan support. The Inhofe amendment would establish a data access committee to make policy recommendations regarding autonomous vehicle data ownership, control, and access.

The membership of the data access committee was carefully negotiated to preserve balanced representation among stakeholders, including fleet managers. This was a direct result of NAFA’s D.C. “fly in” back in September.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has approved and the House has passed H.R. 3388, the SELF DRIVE Act. This legislation does not address data access. The Committee’s leadership questions whether data access and the Inhofe amendment merit being included in the final bill.

NAFA is collaborating with allied organizations to urge the House and Senate to integrate Senator Inhofe’s amendment into the final bill.

What You Can Do
The leadership of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will ultimately decide whether or not to adopt Senator Inhofe’s amendment. If your company or agency has a Washington, D.C., representative, please request that they contact the House Energy and Commerce Committee with the request that it accept the Inhofe amendment. Let them know how important access to vehicle-generated data is to your fleet.

In addition, please have your Washington representative reach out to NAFA’s U.S. Legislative Counsel, Patrick O’Connor, at 703-351-6222 or poconnor@nafa.org, to let Pat know of your actions.

NAFA is the authority for government standards in fleet management. We are the only association that can represent you and your perspectives. But we need your input. Talk to your Washington rep about how important it is for you to have access to vehicle-generated data. Then have your rep contact the House Energy and Commerce Committee today!

Thank you!

Sincerely,

 

Phil