PRIA Logo™
119-hr-3360119th CongressWALLET

Driver Technology and Pedestrian Safety Act of 2025

Sponsored By: Representative Mullin, Kevin [D-CA-15]

In Committee

Summary

Driver-controlled technology safety. This bill would require the Transportation Secretary to commission a National Academies study on how touch screen and other driver-controlled systems affect driver distraction and severe injuries and fatalities, including for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Show full summary
  • Families and vulnerable road users: The study would examine links between in-vehicle touch screens and severe injuries or deaths involving drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists, and would offer recommendations to reduce those harms.
  • Drivers and vehicle designers: It would compare touch screen controls, tactile controls, and smartphone use to study how user interface designs change driver behavior and crash risk, informing potential guidance or standards.
  • Federal safety data and regulators: The Secretary would recommend changes to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, National Occupant Protection Use Surveys, and the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria to collect touchscreen and smartphone use data. The study would start quickly and the Secretary would report findings and recommendations to Congress and publish them publicly.

Personalized for You

How does this bill affect your finances?

Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to download

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

3 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.

New definitions for vehicle technology

This bill would define key terms used in the study and any follow-on work. "Commercial motor vehicle" would include the definition in current law and vehicles used by transportation network companies. "Driver-controlled technology" would cover optional driver-engaged controls like touch screens and would exclude automatic safety features engaged by default. The bill would also define "tactile motor vehicle control" (knobs, switches, trackpads) and "touch screen-based system" (an in-vehicle computer with a primary touch-screen interface, which may show a smartphone interface). These definitions would shape who and what regulators study or regulate.

National study on vehicle touchscreen safety

This bill would require the Secretary of Transportation to ask the National Academies to study driver-controlled technology and its link to severe injuries and deaths. The Secretary would seek the agreement within 3 months of enactment and must study a period starting no earlier than 10 years before the agreement date. The study would examine touch screen systems, replacing knobs with touch screens, user interface design, comparisons to smartphone use (excluding phones that project to the car screen), and whether time of day or road conditions change risks. The Secretary would publish a report within 24 months after the agreement and send recommendations to Congress within 2 months after that report is published. The study effort would be subject to the availability of appropriations.

Agency authority and court deference

This bill would tell courts to defer to the Secretary of Transportation's reasonable reading of any ambiguous term in the bill. It would also state that the bill does not stop or delay other regulations agencies are required or authorized to issue. Together these rules would affect how judges review agency actions and how agencies and companies implement any guidance or standards that follow from the study.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Mullin, Kevin [D-CA-15]

CA • D

Cosponsors

  • Rep. Knott, Brad [R-NC-13]

    NC • R

    Sponsored 10/1/2026

  • Rep. McDowell, Addison P. [R-NC-6]

    NC • R

    Sponsored 10/22/2026

  • Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9]

    FL • D

    Sponsored 2/12/2026

  • Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7]

    VA • D

    Sponsored 6/23/2026

  • Rep. Kean, Thomas H. [R-NJ-7]

    NJ • R

    Sponsored 8/13/2026

  • Rep. Wittman, Robert J. [R-VA-1]

    VA • R

    Sponsored 8/20/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

View on Congress.gov
Back to Legislation