Consumer Reports, the independent, non-profit member organization, strongly urges you to support the road safety provisions in H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act. These provisions are transformative and necessary. They would substantially reduce the toll of car crashes, which account for the deaths of more than 36,000 people and millions of injuries every year.
The road safety provisions in H.R. 2 would require existing auto safety technologies, including automatic emergency braking and blind spot warning, to come standard on all new vehicles and meet minimum federal performance requirements. In addition, H.R. 2 would strengthen the five-star new car safety ratings program, require drunk driving prevention technology, reduce violent crashes involving truck underride, help stop child heatstroke deaths in cars, and improve safety in cars with keyless ignitions, among other measures.
The importance of the safety-first approach taken by H.R. 2 is underscored by an analysis Consumer Reports released today on the expected benefits of existing safety technologies if they were equipped on the entire fleet of light vehicles in the United States. CR’s study found full adoption of currently available crash avoidance technologies and other existing safety systems could cut road deaths in half by saving 16,800-20,500 lives per year. Another CR study recently found that these safety technologies frequently come only with the purchase of a package of expensive add-ons, including features like a premium stereo system or sunroof, which often costs more than $2,000—and, in one case, more than $15,000—extra. By making existing safety technologies standard on all new cars, Congress would save lives and stop automakers from treating safety as a luxury.
The Moving Forward Act is essential to the advancement of strong vehicle safety measures and that would lead to real reductions in road deaths and injuries. Accordingly, we urge you to support H.R. 2 and reject any efforts to weaken the bill’s critical road safety provisions. Thank you for your consideration.
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