Preparing for the Future of Transportation: Automated Vehicles 3.0 (AV 3.0)

INTRODUCTION: AUTOMATION AND SAFETY

The United States surface transportation system provides tremendous mobility benefits, including widespread access to jobs, goods, and services. It also connects many remote regions of the country to the larger economy. These benefits, however, come with significant safety challenges, as motor vehicle crashes remain a leading cause of death, with an estimated 37,133 lives lost on U.S. roads in 2017. Traditional safety programs and policies have made road travel significantly safer than in the past, but there is much room to improve traffic fatality and injury rates.