R Street Testimony in Support of VA HB 1125, authorizing autonomous vehicles in Virginia
Testimony from:
Robert Melvin, Northeast Region Director, R Street Institute
In SUPPORT of VA HB 1125, authorizing autonomous vehicles in Virginia.
February 5, 2026
House Transportation Committee, Innovations Subcommittee
Chairwoman Glass and members of the committee,
My name is Robert Melvin, and I am the Northeast region director for the R Street Institute, which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public policy organization. Our mission at RSI is to engage in research and outreach to promote free markets and limited, effective government in many areas, including technology and innovation policy. It’s for this reason we want to share our support for House Bill 1125.
HB 1125 establishes a regulatory structure for highly autonomous vehicles (AVs) to operate in Virginia and authorizes their deployment without a human driver provided that they comply with federal safety standards and state traffic laws. In addition, the legislation creates a new AV license from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles outlines legal responsibilities of AVs related to insurance, geofencing, statewide safety requirements, and prevents local jurisdictions from banning their operation. This pivotal initiative will place Virginia at the forefront of the advanced autonomous vehicle sector while helping tackle issues affecting its communities.
In Virginia, recent figures show that traffic-related fatalities have increased over the past several years, rising from 847 in 2020 to 918 in 2024.[1] While many elements play a role, human error remains a major contributor, particularly drunk driving, aggressive driving, and driver distraction.[2] Congestion remains a persistent problem for Virginia drivers, with rankings sliding from 24th to 37th overall, suggesting that traffic gridlock is getting worse.[3] Traffic continues to drain both time and money from motorists, with total costs estimated between $850 and $2,600 based on their location within the state.[4] While HB 1125 is no panacea, it offers a potential path towards alleviating these challenges.
HB 1125 would provide clearer and more consistent rules for autonomous vehicles in Virginia by creating a defined framework for their operation. By allowing AVs on public roadways, the bill would broaden transportation options available to consumers. Not only does it expand options for consumers, but it could save Virginia drivers money. Research has found that when AVs led human controlled vehicles that it resulted in a 42 percent decrease in fuel usage and eliminated stop-and-go traffic.[5] Additionally, the legislation has the potential to further enhance roadway safety.
A Swiss Re study, conducted by a major reinsurer, examined liability claims from collisions across 25.3 million miles driven by fully autonomous robo-taxis. The analysis found that autonomous vehicles are substantially safer than human drivers, showing an 88 percent reduction in property damage claims and a 92 percent reduction in bodily injury claims.[6] This translates to AVs being about 10.4 times safer than human-operated vehicles, and their safety record is improving rapidly—doubling approximately every five years.[7] In the rare cases where AVs are involved in accidents, human drivers are typically the primary factor.[8]
Additional evidence indicates that AVs are associated with 62 percent fewer police-reported crashes, 78 percent fewer crashes resulting in injury, and 81 percent fewer airbag deployments compared to typical human drivers.[9] Since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that traffic accidents generate around $23 billion in annual medical costs, reducing collisions by 90 percent could lower those expenses by about $20.7 billion per year.[10] Although the primary motivations for permitting AV operation in Virginia include improving safety and traffic flow, the economic advantages should also be factored into the decision.
This bill has the potential to deliver meaningful economic benefits for Virginia. One analysis projects that the AV market could generate up to 455,000 new jobs nationwide over the next 15 years, with roughly 190 jobs generated for every 1,000 AVs deployed.[11] Given Virginia’s reputation as “Silicon Valley east” for its strong technology talent and innovation ecosystem, this legislation could reinforce existing strengths while drawing new investment to the Commonwealth.[12]
Despite lingering skepticism from some, autonomous vehicles are not an untested concept. The technology has been deployed extensively nationwide, and advancing this legislation would allow Virginia to join 25 other states that have approved AV operations on their roadways.[13]
HB 1125 stands to improve road safety, ease traffic congestion, and support innovation-driven economic growth. Accordingly, we urge the committee to issue a favorable report on House Bill 1125.
Thank you,
Robert Melvin
Northeast Region State Government Affairs Director
R Street Institute
rmelvin@rstreet.org
[1] Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, Virginia Highway Safety Office, “2024 Virginia Traffic Crash facts,” Virginia Driving Trends, Last Accessed February 3, 2026. https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/documents/VA-traffic-crash-2024.pdf
[2] CDC, “Global Road Safety,” May 16, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/transportation-safety/global/index.html.
[3] Baruch Feigenbaum, et al., “Annual Highway Report,” Reason Foundation, March 13, 2025. https://reason.org/highway-report/28th-annual-highway-report/virginia/
[4] Emily Harrison, “Hampton Roads has some of the worst traffic impacts in the state, according to new data,” WVEC Norfolk, 13 News Now, September 28, 2023. https://www.13newsnow.com/article/traffic/hampton-roads-worst-traffic-impacts-in-virginia/291-8f3ee1d0-7f86-44ce-b70d-99830f239b31#:~:text=HAMPTON%2C%20Va.,not%20much%20better%20in%20comparison.
Rick Massimo, “Traffick, rough roads cost average Northern Virginia driver 102 hours, $2,600 a year,” WTOP News, February 3, 2020. https://wtop.com/dc-transit/2020/02/traffic-rough-roads-cost-average-no-va-driver-102-hours-2600-a-year/
[5] Alexandre M. Bayen, “Eliminating Traffic Jams with Self-Driving Cars,” University of California at Berkeley, March 15, 2021. https://ce.berkeley.edu/news/2537.
[6] Luigi Di Lillo, et al., “Do Autonomous Drivers Outperform Latest-Generation Human-Driven Vehicles? A comparison to Waymo’s Auto Liability Insurance Claims at 25 million Miles,” Waymo, 2024. https://waymo.com/research/do-autonomous-vehicles-outperform-latest-generation-human-driven-vehicles-25-million-miles/.
[7] Gale Pooley, “Waymo Drivers Are Way Safer (10x) Than Humans,” Human Progress, Jan. 7, 2025. https://humanprogress.org/waymo-drivers-are-way-safer-10x-than-humans.
[8] Timothy B. Lee, “Human drivers are to blame for most serious Waymo collisions,” Understanding AI, Sept. 10, 2024. https://www.understandingai.org/p/human-drivers-are-to-blame-for-most.
[9] Waymo, “Waymo Safety Impact: Waymo Driver Compared to Human Benchmarks,” Last accessed February 24, 2025. https://waymo.com/safety/impact/.
[10] Kareem Othman, “Exploring the implications of autonomous vehicles: a comprehensive review,” Innovative Infrastructure Solutions, March 1, 2022. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8885781/.
[11] Chamber of Progress, “Opportunity AV: How Many and What Types of Jobs Will Be Created by Autonomous Vehicles?,” October 3, 2024. https://progresschamber.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Opportunity-AV-How-Many-and-What-Type-of-Jobs-Will-Be-Created-by-Autonomous-Vehicles.pdf.
[12] ChiefExecutive.Net, “Talent and Innovation: How Virginia is Meeting the Tech Moment,” Virginia Economic Development Partnership, February 2, 2026. https://chiefexecutive.net/talent-and-innovation-how-virginia-is-meeting-the-tech-moment/amp/
[13] Ariel Wolf, et al., “State Autonomous Vehicle Laws and Regulations,” Venable LLP, December 2024, https://books.venable.com/Autonomous-Vehicles/4/.