Accountability in the implementation of safe systems. As we adopt new technologies, we need better data related to ance and failures. To improve safety performance and public acceptance. We need a safe u. S. Where people can make mistakes and to be human and still make it home on our roads. A focus on addressing kinetic roadway fatalities offers tremendous promise for a Transportation System that is safe for all ages abilities. Researchers are positioned to support this work in collaboration with many partners dedicated to Community Safety and wellbeing. Thank you for your time and leadership and i did welcome discussion on this critical chief executive officer of the association. Representing more than 20 of the leading Companies DevelopingAutonomous Vehicle technologies. Good to have you at the committee here, you can proceed with opening remarks. Chaiis an honor to testify today. A written testimony provides talities and injuries on u. S. Roads. I want to spend my time talking about solutions. How technology can address the roadway safety crisis. And astion for our country is now a reality. Are here. Members have driven 70 million autonomous miles on u. S. Public roads. 293 round trips to the moon. Autonomous vehicles can play an Important Role in addressing roadway safety. The country has hit a wall built on Human Behavior. Like speeding and distracted driving. These errors are the cause of 40,000 deaths on the roads. Evs do not engage in any of these behaviors. What are we referring to when we say using Driver Assist vehicles human driver must be engaged and take over at a moments notice. With truly Autonomous Vehicles, the human has no responsibility for the driving task. A marrge and software and delivers sensitivities and capabilities and reaction times beyond that ng the vehicle a 360 degree view to detect and react to objects and people when hidden from human perception due to other buildings and obstructions. How evs is developed to ce vulnerable road users and re behavior. We have been in situations where a pedestrian steps off a curb that was not visible or a ycle approach from behind and was undetected before it went by. Imagine a world where vehicles do not have human limitations because they can see through objects in every direction. This is the promise of Autonomous Vehicles. Dustry recognizes this is a new technology and we are strongly committed to Building Trust in evs is essential to their acceptance. Last month, announced was a trust principal. Ansparent interactions with the government and officials. And upholding the highest Cyber Security and privacy standards. Autonomous vehicles are an american Success Story. Our country can and must lead on this area globally. Of policymakers. I want to turn to a couple of policy recommendations that will help industry address the roadway safe. Federal leadership imperative. Competitor countries are moving forward with policy frameworks. And taking the lead on ev policy. 25 states now have deployment statutes and are welcomencourage federal action in a couple of areas. The ev start act. Our industry is grateful to both senators for the long standing leadership on ev policy and the recognition that the policy will make the roads safer. Our organization was excited to see evs specifically called out. The working group encouraged Committee Action on a federal framework for the testing and deployment across all modes of transportation and this is particularly important for the competitors in the Chinese Communist party. There is a strong interest for the department of increase safety on american roads. We need action in key areas. For example, a proposed rule on nounced in july, 2023. They present an opportunity to ty and accessibility. It will encourage deployment of nextgeneration vehicles and open up a wealth of data to make progress toward establishing an effective government structure. Another example where d. O. T. Should take immediate action is from granting the request allowing ev trucks to have alternative warning devices when a vehicle is stopped on the roadside. I look forward to any questions you may have. I want to thank you for being here. And thank you for all of the great work that you are doing in the city of detroit. As you mentioned in your opening comments. Detroit has historically struggled with high number of roadway injuries and deaths among the unity. My question for you, can you speak to the importance of safe streets for all funding in tes of enabling various safety interventions that would be possible . Can you speak detroit is addressionand Racial Disparities using this program . Thank you for that question, chairman. For these first part of the question, the program is vitally important for cities like detroit, within the city linear miles of road that are under the jurisdiction and the most dangerous roads are not. This gives us a funding stream about making hard choices between state of good repair and saving lives on safety projects. We can have dedicated funding to focus on safety on streets that have been overbuilt in detroit and have had many crashes and fatalities. To the second part of your question, chairman, how we cioeconomic factors into this. The work that we work on when it comes to the roads that we paved. We will take an equitybased approach on the planning and t teams looking at commercial core doors and the data as well. Take a balanced approach with how we make those types of investments throughout the city. Thank you. In addition to serving as chair of the committee, i am the founder and chair of the senate motorcycle will caucus. I am an avid motorcyclist myself and i share this with a number of my colleagues here. May is Motorcycle Safety month where we raise awar motorcycle fatalities. They perish at a rate 22times that of Motor Vehicle occupants. What kind of technology and interventions are most likely to benefit motorcyclist and users and how can we get those up and thank you for the question, chairman. Probably the most Effective Technology technologies as you know, providing to drivers of cars, motorcyclist, and other road users, to alert them, the drivers of impending collisions or hazards that go beyond their line of sight, so that drivers camakebetter avoid a crash and improve safety on the road talking about road users who do a vehicle. Vehicle to everything technologies would be the Top Technology solutions. Their Technology Solutions being developed by bmw that are very active in the Motorcycle Safety space with what we call digital alerting. Alerting of other Key Information about the roadway conditor weather. Things that would be a safety of life issue and can critical information to a motorcyclist or cyclist. Those solutions are being developed by those companies. In addition, the association s a part of a larger coalition for many these technologies so that we can protect drivers and motorcyclists, bicyclists, and other road users using our system. I strongly believe and support evs and i believe they can play a in achieving our goals preventing roadway fatalities. Case, self driving vehi trust, as you mentioned. There is also a transition for affected workers with this new logy. The committee has received letters from unions representing workers who work in and around vehicles that share their concerns with self driving cars. And we will put thatthe record. How are you and your members working with transportation workers, affected communities on the public to build trust and transparency . What is the best approach to dealing with this challenge as the industry continues to devedents will occur. That is something you need to be thinking about. Thank you question. As i mentioned in my opening statement, the release of the trust principles. One of the things that comes through in that document, we are articulating a very belief with an incredible amount of local engagement. Prior to Companies Going into cities and speaking with local leaders and with first responders, with leaders, in labor and other walks of life. It is important that we are meeting people where they are and explaining what our intentions are, how we can increase safety and how we can help with supply chain challenges with accessibility opportunities and this localized operation is something we are very that the industry has put a significant amount of resources toward. Thank you. We are in the process vote really quickly. I will hand the gavel over to the Ranking Member and i will be back to relieve you. Works for me, thank you, chairman. Thank you for the reply k you for mentioning the ai road we released last week. In that bipartisan road map we encourage committees to continue their work on developing the federal framework for testing and deployment and we highlight that it is particularly critical as strategic competitors, continue to race ahead and shape the vision of this technology. Just yesterday, the uk the ev act became law. They will have Driverless Cars on their road within two years. Where does the u. S. Stand in the global ev competition and what are other countries doing differently in support of innovation and deployment . Thank yo the this, over the course of the last dozen or so years, you have had an incredible american Success Story bringing autonomous driving where it is. This has gone unnoticed by many countries around the world. They want accessibility fits. They are racing to keep up and china is one of those countries. We are firmly in the lead. We have the best companies in the world. We are ahead in technological to public policy. We need a framework put in place. We need action on legislation and action on department of transportation. The federal government is behind where a lot of states tion in recent years. It is incumbent upon us to listen to p1 and to act after studying the facts and consulting with all stakeholders. We have been involved in such consultation in preparing for action for some period of time if the uk is prepared to go ahead, it seems that we ought to be. G in innovating a lot of these technologies. Is that consistent with your assessment . We have the best companies in the world here. We need a framework that can support those Companies Going forward. To move on to another important topic that many of you touched on in your opening remarks, i will get to many of you. 41,000 people died on ou last year. A massive number. I was trying to contextualize this number. I believe that it goes underreported. Compared to other disasters that afflict families and communities. The cdc reports that every year, the number of u. S. Murderers is half that number. I think it was completely accurate when secretary buddha judge said that human drivers are not just problematic, they are murderous. Again, he was talking about the ting the latest technologies. We have been bathed in this level of carnage our lives. Can you tell us, how this will decrease the number fatalities and share any projections on how significantly it will decrease by your estimates . I appreciate the question. The reality is that we have a country. It will take Committee Hearings like this, accidentally this. For our part in the industry, we believe this will be a solution that is out there. The reality is that Human Behavior is what is driving a death and crushes we are seeing. Autonomous vehicles do not suffer from human frailties, they do not drive impaired, distracted, we do not have to accept any longer these types we will continue to see Autonomous Vehicles rolled out deliberately in american communities, that is great news. We will see a reduction in crashes and that is something we need federal partners . Aon. We have to lay a predice of trust enabling that to happen. Call bashar. Thank you very much, mr. Chair, you. It is wonderful to be here with all of you. I have cared a lot about this e when i was a prosecutor on dwis and we had to change our law for repeat felons driving with a guy told the officer that he moved to minnesota when there was not enhanced penalties. Then when i got here, i did a t distracted driving. The the best in the country. Number four for transportation infrastructure and we have so many fatalities due to driving. In your testimony, you know how in 2021, Rural Communities had a fatality rate 1. 5 times higher than the urban rage. Can you Infrastructure Investments in rural areacan Transportation Systems . Thank you for the question, senator. Rural communities face the brunt of traffic fatalities. We have seen that there are significant positive impacts from technologies in particular lane keep which in iowa, lane departure is one of leading causes of crashes. Thay in their lane and not crossed the median strip. In the physical world, many rural states do rumble strips to help drivers understand when they might be drifting from the lane. Communications is the backbone of transportation in the 21st century. It will continue to be more important as we move forward and incorporate advanced technologito our system. At the base level what it allows us to do is to transmit and share critical information in various diers. That is key. We need to be investing in that backbone and the Communications Infrastructure as part of transportation programs and funding. Thank you. What i was referenc on distracted driving, it takes five seconds to drive across the entire football field. Senator young and i at an indianapolis game. Had the biggest comeback in the nfl. It happens. Almost as good asthis week. The football field, to get more serious, five seconds to drive across the football field at 55 ur. Five seconds. In 2022, when people are looking at their phone, 3300 people died in accident one the driver of the car that she was writing and re grab something in the back seat. This happens over and over again. Your that 3 of all drivers are looking at or using a handheld device. In your viewhow can new technologies combat distracted driving . Senator, thank you for sharing the information that you just this is something happening every single day. This is a Huge National problem. The expectation th vehicles that we can help to address that. The reality is that the system does not get distracted and you do not have to have the temptation is too great. To look when they are going a certain speed and we know what happens. We are trying to fundamentally remove the human error that is tent across our country. We want to remove that from across the country. At the same tiws that we have on the books, i will add. Not everyone will be doing that a balance. Of incentives in place for getting laws passed to help with distracted driving. Thank you very much for work. With that, i will turn it back to you, mr. Chair. Thank you, i will recognize senator thank you, senator, thank you all for being here. I did not hear all of the testimony. I had other questions. Here is the one thing ive not heard. The increased weight of the electric vehicle. The president has said that by 2030 we are going of the cars will be electric vehicles. I did some brief stuff on my here. The gmc hummer ev weighs 9000 pounds. The batterwhich is comparable to a hummer ways 6000 pounds. There is a study out there that says that baseline fatality possibility increases 47 for every thousand pounds added to a car. We cant regulate or legislate if we reach these goals which are doubtful, going in that direction. If we are looking at heavier vehicles. This has been brought to my attentinia d. O. T. And if guardrails can withstand the impacts. When you talk about fatalities, mass versus velocity. You are not slowing down. If you have beend go pretty fast. What are we going to do about this . Does anybody have suggestions . Thank you for the question, have to address collectively as we move forward. In america, our no we acknowledge the climate impacts of transportation and sustainable Transportation System we need to prioritize safety. I mentioned in my opening remarks, we need to move to a more proactive approach. Part of that means preventing crashes before they even happen as opposed to mitigating the impact. We need to do both. If we take an approach that is proactive to prevent the crash from happening, i believe we can Leverage Technology tools in the best possible way. Mr. Nelson . Thank you for the questions, we support customer choice. These are heavier vehicles that willtalking about safety. You are speaking our language. We have given a lot of the safety implications involving evs. You highlighted issues about stoppian quickly these vehicles can reach higher speeds. Degradation built infrastructure. Just think of a iparking garage. Size and weight issues. Are there any solutions here . We Dot Solutions yet. We do not have a high penetration of evs in the u. S. Fleet. We should be approaching this as a do no harm policy move. We have not seen effort into thin to address these implications on infrastructure and on safety. We have seen no action. Would be smart to be talking about thof vehicles. If any of the goals are actually met, this will be a large part of our fleet. Thank you, senator. As i spoke about this in my earlier remarks. Mass is a critical factor. This be that these vehicles can of thein our toolbelt address the speed side of the equation. With in opportunities for a lot of the built environment to address speed management. Toopriate speeds in different contexts. We have some technologies on the vehicular side as well related assistance and supported devices. Im not being confrontational, clarifying myself, we would have governors at would not let you go a certain mileage or certain speed. There are bills that say that go then 70 posted speed limit, is that what you are talking about there . There are technogies that exist on large truck fleets. What we are seeing in other countries is systems. What does that mean . Providing warnings to drivers when they are overspeed or they that needs to be applied to physical feedback to the driver so that they do not continue to accelerate over the posted speed. They are doing that . They are. There is a great law that we passed. I you see in the future . I might be out of time. Thank you. Senator fisher, you are recognized for your questions. I have an answer to your question. You were asking if there has been any testing that has gone on with accidents on the safety there. The university of nebras conducted a first of its kind crash assessment and they crashed the all electric pickup truck to investigate the efficacy of r the increased presence of heavier evs. It plowed through the guardrail and traveled into the opposite lane of traffic in january, a group of engineers warned that increasing the weight with Structural Design requirements were resolved and were in reduced infrastructure safety for parking structures. Testing has been done, i assume that there will be more done in the the weight of trucks. The batteries are much heavier than 3000 pounds. Yeah. A lot of Research Needs to be right. Ms. Chase, a recent report found that 20 on lived in Rural Communities. Rural areas account for about 40 of all traffic talities. Nebraska, im sorry to say, has the second highest ratio of urban fatality rates in this country. You mentioned that rural areas have rumble bars. Ka, we have a number of those on every highway. You mentioned technology. You mentioned some infrastructure changes. In the near term, do any ideas on upgrades that can see for infrassafety gains there . It is very concerning. Thank you for the ÷squestion, senator. I do think that rural areas, we know they can benefit from vehicle to everything technoe technology that public agencies can deploy e funds. They can deploy these roadside units to be able to communicate with fleets and other drivers if they are deployed in the vehicles. They provide curb speed warning alerts if the vehicle is going too fast. We have seen Great Success in wyoming using weather warning there are such spot weather impacts with a risk of semis tipping over. They have a lot of data that shows that there has been a significant reduction in crashes. That is Important Technology to be deploying and investing in today. Understanding that some of the come immediately and more will come in the Technology Gets deployed and is scaled throughout the Transportation System. Thank you. Mr. Nelson, i was interested see that in your testimony, you said that rising traffic fatalities you noted that types of dangerous driving some regions. You attributed much of this to the staffing challenges that Law Enforcement agencies are facing right now. I have a bill that i hope the prbe signing and it addresses that it contains a new study to assess the staffing crisis at departthe impacts that this issue is having on Public Safety. Do you believe that traffic fatalities should be among the Public Safety impacts that my bill evaluate . Is that something that we can absolutely. Cm we need to underscore the Important Role that Law Enforcement plays in enforcing lifesaving laws. The research is Crystal Clear that when risk apprehensis ey of Law Enforcement agencies nationwide confirming the concerns with staftages and tied it to the negative perception of Law Enforcement throughout the united states. One of the ways that we can address that support to Law Enforcement accessing better data to increase transparency in the communities that they serve and protect. Can i have my staff reach out to you for information on that . And more ideas that we help only help guide where the committee will be looking out where that sty will be going . Senator, we would. A second round. There are more members on their way here. Senator ra will ask questions now. Think do you the amazing witnesses. I have learned a lot today. One of the things that i am struck by is not only the ability to lives, but also the amazing impact they can have on changing the quality of life on countless individuals who rely on friends, family, and others to drive them around development of evs impact the disabled, the blind, the elderly, and others that are unable to thank you for the question. This is something near and dear nizations in the spaces that you mentioned. Wiies, you mentioned the elderly. My grandmother has not driven 10 years. She has sons and daughters that live locally that can take her to places. Many do not have those situations. They have lost the liberation to drive. You talked ed. Its important to note that there are massive amounts of underemployment and unemployment in the Blind Community because they cannot get to as many occupations. You look at organizations like the National Federation of the blind thlooks towards Autonomous Vehicles to move around more freely and have that independence that so many for granted. Thank you. You in recognition of the fact that Neither Congress or the exechave provided regulatory standards for deploying Autonomous Vehicles. I would like to get your perspective on the impact that the lack of a clear federal standard has on local rnments. Thank you for the question. Are state and local public agencies ha15in action because what it has done, it has transferred the risk and responsibility for assessing these Safety Systems to the state and locality. There is great desire from the Community Public and private forward with the mentioned earlier. Thank you. I will turn for my final question to to dr. Sandt. This type of infrastructure has been around for generations. My dear mother lives in a town that is known as the the world. They have installed 150 roundabouts over the last 30 years. The citys population has quadrupled during that time. The conversion of roundabouts has resulted in a 47 reduction in injury crashes overall. And a 90 reduction in fatalities. The amount of time saved in 2020 was five days or 120 hours per motorist. Roundabouts provide for the increawithout stopping. Can you talk about the safety of roundabouts atty and increase efficiency in the Transportation Network . Fantastic to hear the Success Stories we have had in indiana. Roundabouts are part of the Success Stories that we can claim with the speed management with roundabouts, we see the research pointing to an 80 reduction in fatal injury crashes. The key is that they really do reduce conflict points at those intersections where injuries n they reduce the approach speed. They reduce delay at intersections. They can have benefits beyond safety. What is fantastic about the roundabouts we see in the united states, they have versatility of design in different contexts. In school zones in wisconsin, the Freight Community to make trucking industry. And they are a tool for safety and mobility. Thank you for sharing your y. Thank you very much, dr. , for speaking to that question. The chairman is captivated byto roundabouts. You minute tutorial on roundabouts, where the former mayor talks at ea length about the safety benefits, about the fuel benefits, they are cheaper to maintain. We are preaching the gospel. Thank you. We will tune in. Nelson, i have a question for both of you. If each of you could speak to the improvements we can the safe streets Grant Program to improve the communitys ability to make the most j i would love to have your input on how we can make them better. Thank you for the question, senator. This targets communities. One of e benefits of that is if we are serious about driving , the number of fatalities to zero, we have to follow the data. It wi quick we that it is in lower one of the benefits of inof funds to the local community is addressing the population that is bearing the brunt of the safety problem. Engage in Public Engagement and participation. This is more than just a listening session of local residents, it is about making sure that they understand what the safety and Countermeasure Solutions available to them. The input on which countermeasures they would welcome most into the community should be adopted and implemented to the outcom that project. How we will build demand and support for these investments investments like this in the future. Very good. Thank you for the question, chairman. I will start e safe streets for all program. The design for beneting lonts is very important. Im happy that the program exists. Changes we would make to th of things come to mind. How do we incentivize collaboration between cities and other jurisdiction owners that might not be eligible to apply. There are larger roads that they own. The state d. O. T. Is not e in the program. That is a good thing. Where we need to creative, they also own the most dangerous streets. Knowing they are not eligible and there is still a requirement where cities can justify spending their dollars on someone elses roadway, we need to be creative about how we address those roads that fall outside of the purvw wm upon i would look carefully at the implementation funding project funding. Both are incredible and valuable. As more communities go forward and have safety action plans, its important to have flexibility in how those dollars can be spent to allow more Safety Measures to be tried out. Between two of those, there is tweaking to an overall gray program. Thank you. Dr. Sandt, you discussed taking a Public Health approach to roadway safety. You mean by a Public Health approach when it comes to how we improve Data Collection as well as education related to roadway safety. Thank you for that question. The approach is very compatible with what we have been talking about with the safes if the oachduce the likelihood of injury or any othenegativehealth outcome. Another important parallel is in we follow the so she oh ecological framework. Individual behaviors stem and often are j tnnced by a broader social environment and a broader physical environment. We can change human health and Human Behavior by recognizing the systems that people are operating and looking at the social and holistic view, it is very much aligned with the Public Health practitioners used for other health issues. With respect to your question around data, the Public Health community offerstremendous resources and knowledge around how we can improve the injury complementary data sources including 28the trauma registries, ems data, that can supplement the data that we collect from Law Enforcement officers. We also see examples of timeliness in Data Collectionhealth community. D understand the nature of risk. With respect to the question unications, Public Health does a fantastic job in many ways of the community and having strong messaging around health mmunications and health behaviors. That is a great opportunity to coordinate and build partnerships with the Transportation Community as well. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman, very much. We have learned a lot about how do not just need safe cars, we need safe sts for drivers and pedestrians, cyclists, and Public Transit riders. Just look at of People Killed in Motor Vehicle accidents were outside the vehicle. In 2022, the number rose to 36 of those killed outside the vehicle. The death toll tells a similar story. In 2022 the number was 7500 people. Introduced the complete streets act. The bill mandates that all construction along danger streets like bicycle and pedestrian paths. Detroit works hard to include Design Elements in its road structure. Do you agree that we must prioritize at the federal level in order to make roads safer . Thank you, senator, for your question and support on road safety and complete streets. Absolutely. For any street design, having a complete street is critically t. The right solution is not to put bike lanes on every single street but you have solutions that are appropriate fothe road. Looking at things to slow down cross safer. Or it could just be having s the street. There is a variety of countermeasures that can be used. Anything we can do to support safer streets including streets that receive federal funding, that is extremely valuable. I would like to look at another important topic. Automakers are including new software in vehicles that can assist drivers with accelerating, breaking and turning and these are only designed for use unde Road Conditions. With an alert driver behind the wheel. These features are especially dangerthem misleading names that lull drivers into a false sense er is tesla. Who has created an autopilot mode that should be callsemi pilate. Your view, do tesla drivers understand the autopilot mode can be operated on certain roads and require active driver engagement and they can push the button and go to sleep . Question. As i mentioned in the opening statement, it is imperative that we distinguish between actual Autonomous Vehicles operating at level four. The human in the responsibility for the driving task. It is imperative that the ed to be prepared to pull over at moments notice. Thank you. Contrast these automated not designed to be operated in other Road Conditions such as dangerous, winding roads with cross traffic. You represent many manufacturers who are testing full Autonomous Vehicles. Caoperational driving domain . Thank you for the question. The state of the technology right now is our members are operating at level meaning that they are confined it to an operational design domain thatis a set of safety limitations put on the vehicle whether geographic. Right now they remain within the odd. That can be Something Like the city of San Francisco or phoenix or scottsdale or a stretch of highway for things us trucking, and that is where we are from a technology perspective. We will make sure we roll it out safely. Should theyin be able to operate outside of their operational design domain . I cannot speak to the Driver Assisting features in terms of what the state of the techgy is. I can only speak to level for technology where they are now. My view is there is no reas that driving features like autopilot should be operational design domain. Thank you for this hearing the. Witnesses for their expert testimony. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I want for highlighting the importance in your testimony. I was proud to work with a Bipartisan Coalition of colleagues and gary peters who is also a champion for ro get this landmark revision included in the law. On statistics that we see across the countrys as many as 10,000 lives a year could be saved by the inclusion of th technology. Over the past few years i have been encouraged to see Industry Partners stand up and become a to get Impaired Driving technology in vehicles. Leicester General Motors ceo said that technology to passively detect alcohol in cars exists and that its they introduced the latest test car with no Safety Technology providing the number of interior sensing technologies to detect driver impairment. President signed law and to act in 2021 how has the Technology Available on the market changed . Thank you for the question. Before i respond to your questions i want to thank you and your colleagues for getting the finish line. Relative to your question about how technology has evolved since implementation. These technologies existed already lls making it into the legislation has spurred innovation. There is no question that technology to make this happen whether it be just alcohol or the passive detection plus vehicle monitoring are combined togeth ons exist right now. They are already working on ways to implement it issuing its finals was the only way we are going to make sure we stroads in crashes every day that it is delayed. Let me ask you a owup to that but why is is so important they issued the notice of public rulemaking by november 2024 . I think every day we delay people to die on our roads and. It is a life or death situation. Iamany vehicles including the test vehicles they were showing be one of the largest suppliers to gm if i am not mistaken. It was impressive to see what peady developed and to positively on the number of patents that have been filed as well as american major suppliers is encouraging. That was one of the goals of th respond to providing solutions as well, so thank you very much for that as i appreciate you highlighting the importance of another Key Technology and transportation. Safety. A future innovations in Transportation Safety rely on Technology Like broadband to keep drivers in vulnerable road users safe. The question. The answer is there is more than one way to communicate, so also a dedicated spectrum for safety critical Collision Avoidance and also wireless communication options and particularly with advances you technology and others there are many ways to communicate course safety broadband is a key backbone of our system but not the only way to communicate. Is brought been needed for wireless towers to work . Broadband is neededfor ubiquitous communication and infrastructure i am not trying to be cute, but the way i understand the tower they divide to depend there is the tower and it has antennas and provides a canopy to cover things of that nature. The hardwire to that tower. That is a necessity, correct . I cannot speak to the exact specifications of what is needed. Let me go on then put the ng the question. Let me ask the question the way that you answered. If there is no connectivity in that going to prevent some of the benefits to accessing future roadway safety techns . If they do not have wireless. No bror canopy. And a Rural Community do they get the benefit from the same technologies available in a big city that ha connectivity with wireless providers or broadband canopies built by folks in the community . Those technologies need to be prioritized in rural areas an just Transportation Safety. There is significant economic and other benefits that have from coming that type of connectivity. The solutions will enhance some of the more modern technological advances in Transportation Safety, but there are Solutions Even right now there is an examplan a. I. Based sensor and solution being used on an reservation who does. They are able to actually track and understand dangerous and such using this contained solution that is not dependent on a broadband connection, so i would say there are additional ways bring those solutions to Rural Communities, but i agree that Broadband Connectivity and cellular that is important. Her it is other sensors participating with some a. I. Sensor capability hard drive is going to outgrow the community. The problem is all of the other bells and whistles that require Internet Access or wireless access. If there is no connectivity in get that in People Living in Rural Communities deserve the same safety but is going be in a vehicle in the biggest cities in america. That is the point i was trying to make. Because of the question they were asking with the level iii vehicles. If i am correct wigs when it is a level iii in will alert you if your hands are not at a certain stage. Even with a tesensor session is turned off. You have to use your hands the whole time until you turn off the car and all the rest. Is that correct . Yes. Nomous vehicle. I will save my question for someone else. The question i have is it is my understanding now for folks that haiii cars. There are some people in nodding yes. You attach this thing to the Steering Wheel and it thinks your hand is on it. Someone found a loophole. u3