Motor Vehicle Modernization Act of 2026

Key Points

• This bill creates a new office within the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to manage the "star" safety ratings you see on new cars. It requires the agency to create a clear three-year plan for new safety rules so the public and car companies know what changes are coming.
• It updates how the government handles self-driving cars by defining different levels of automation. It also allows car companies to put up to 90,000 experimental vehicles on the road for testing—a huge jump from the current limit of 2,500—to help speed up the development of new safety tech.
• The plan modernizes how you find out about car recalls. Instead of just getting a letter in the mail, car companies could notify you via email or other electronic ways, which could help fix dangerous car defects faster.
• The government would be required to review all existing car safety rules every four years. They will look for rules that are outdated or too expensive and decide if they should be changed or removed, as long as it doesn't make cars less safe.
• New studies would look into making cars more accessible for people in wheelchairs and how to help firefighters safely rescue people from electric vehicle crashes. It also starts a group to teach the public the difference between "driver assist" features and actual self-driving cars.