Target: Ted Cruz, Chair of U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Goal: Do not hinder ability of automakers to offer automatic emergency braking, rear seat alerts, and other important safety features.
Heavy consumer spending seasons routinely call attention to high prices, and the latest focus is on rising automobile prices. Car prices have risen exponentially in recent years. The U.S. Senate, in its infinite wisdom, believes it has a solution: eliminate the advanced safety technology that has helped slash automobile crashes by as much as half.
An upcoming Senate committee hearing scheduled by Republican leaders will call into question widely used vehicle security features like automatic emergency braking and even rear seat alerts, which help remind parents when they have a young child in the backseat of their vehicles. The questions are not about the reliability or success of these safeguards. Rather, they are facing the chopping block because they supposedly “make vehicles too costly.” Even this assertion is subject to scrutiny, as numerous other factors – including tariffs — are contributing to increased car prices.
Sign the petition below to demand politicians prioritize saving lives over saving a few bucks.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Senator Cruz,
Over 70,000 people lose their lives every year in automobile crashes. In an average year, more than three dozen children die in the backseats of cars. Advanced safety features in automobiles can and do save lives, especially with the rise of distracted driving in modern life. And if the NHTSA’s mandate for automatic braking for all new vehicles goes into effect as planned, these safety features will no longer just be for the rich and advantaged.
An NHTSA study highlighted the supposed “cost” of adding these technologies to automobiles: 300 dollars. Ask most Americans, and they would likely gladly pay a few hundred extra dollars for the ability to protect themselves and their families from a tragic death. The cost of lives lost too soon far exceeds the cost of automatic emergency braking, forward collision warnings, and rear seat alerts that can prevent a child from suffocating to death in the back of a car.
If you truly want to bring down auto prices, turn your attention to one of the numerous factors in play, such as tariffs on essential parts or whole vehicles. Do not sacrifice safety for a cheap political distraction.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Yakup Polat
