WASHINGTON, D.C., June 30, 2025 – The United States House of Representatives’ Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade held a hearing on June 26, 2025 titled, “Looking Under the Hood: The State of NHTSA and Motor Vehicle Safety.” The hearing touched on several issues of importance to the Automotive Service Association’s (ASA) members. These topics included safety regulations for vehicles with autonomous technologies – which includes both fully autonomous vehicles (AV) and those equipped with advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) – and vehicle data access. ASA commends the committee members for raising these concerns and their efforts to address them.

Members of the subcommittee devoted significant focus on regulating autonomous vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) received criticism for not creating a regulatory structure conducive to large-scale AV technology advancement and deployment. At the same time, some members acknowledged that Congress’ failure to pass comprehensive autonomous vehicle legislation hinders NHTSA’s authority to set the appropriate rules. Although the witnesses expressed differing opinions on how the regulations should look, one witnesses noted, “one commonality of all the panelists’ testimony is that we have all called upon NHTSA to do more work.”

Cathy Chase, President of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, testified in her opening statement that AV proponents, “…often claim that AVs are safer because they don’t drive drunk, distracted, or tired. No one is disputing that. But AVs also may cause crashes that sober, alert, and engaged drivers would routinely avoid. AVs, which are essentially billion dollar pieces of equipment with years of research, should not drive better than only the worst drivers on our roads.” 

ASA has encouraged NHTSA to produce rules that ensure ADAS sensors are properly calibrated. This assurance becomes even more important when vehicles, passengers, and roadway safety public policy strategies increasingly rely on these sensors.

ASA Board of Directors President Scott Benavidez notes that, “ADAS and AVs can improve vehicle safety if the sensors that underpin the technology work properly throughout the vehicle’s road life. These sensors can become miscalibrated from normal wear and tear or even a bump from a shopping cart.” During the hearing, Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) proposed creating a standardized process for vehicle owners to check that their ADAS is functioning properly. She also asked John Bozzella, President of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, if automakers provide independent automotive businesses the information needed to maintain those systems. He replied that, “the manufacturers provide all of the data necessary to everyone, to both dealers and independent repair shops.”

Congressman Neal Dunn (R-FL) returned to the topic of vehicle data access later in the hearing. He noted that he reintroduced the “REPAIR” Act and the changes made to this latest version in response to stakeholder feedback.

ASA will continue educating and partnering with members of this committee to advance vehicle safety and the policy interests of independent automotive repairers.

ASA is the largest and oldest national organization committed to protecting the automotive repair industry with ONE VOICE. We are the only trade association whose board is comprised solely by collision and mechanical automotive repairers. Our members own and operate repair facilities responsible for the majority of all, post warranty, repair services in the United States. ASA advocates for the interests of its members and their customers in Washington, D.C. The education, resources, and services ASA provides empowers its members in all 50 states to remain trusted stewards of mobility in their communities. www.ASAShop.org