Congress Orders Two-Year Study on Touch Screens and Traffic Deaths, Including Ride-Shares

The Driver Technology and Pedestrian Safety Act of 2025 is setting the stage for a serious look at something many of us deal with every day: the giant screen in our dashboard. This bill doesn't change any rules today, but it mandates a comprehensive, two-year study to figure out how driver-controlled technology—especially those touch screens—is contributing to serious crashes and fatalities, including those involving pedestrians and cyclists (SEC. 2).

The Study: Are Touch Screens Killing Us?

Under this Act, the Secretary of Transportation has to hire the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a deep dive into in-car tech. They must look back at least 10 years to gather meaningful data. The goal is to compare the risks of using built-in touch screens versus using a smartphone while driving (SEC. 2). For instance, if you’re a contractor who uses your truck’s infotainment system to manage routes, the study will analyze how often that interaction leads to distraction compared to picking up your phone. They'll also look at how design factors, like screen brightness and size, affect driver behavior.

This isn't just about drivers rear-ending each other; the study specifically focuses on crashes involving vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists. This is a big deal because it acknowledges that the shift from physical knobs and buttons to complicated screen menus might be contributing to the rise in pedestrian fatalities.

What Happens After the Report?

Within two years of kicking off the study, the Department of Transportation must send a full report to Congress and post it publicly. Two months later, they have to submit a list of recommendations (SEC. 3). These suggestions must be split into two clear buckets: what agencies like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) can do right now using their existing authority (like updating guidance), and what needs a brand-new federal law passed by Congress.

Crucially, the bill requires these recommendations to include updates to federal data collection systems, like the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). This means that moving forward, the government wants to get much better at tracking if a crash was caused by someone messing with a touch screen or a phone, rather than just listing 'driver distraction' generically. If you’ve ever been in a minor fender-bender and reported it, future forms might ask specifically about your interaction with in-car technology.

Who Gets Pulled Into the Conversation?

Two groups should pay close attention to this study. First, automakers are clearly in the crosshairs. If the study finds that overly complex touch screen systems are dangerous, it could lead to future regulations requiring a return to some physical controls, potentially meaning costly redesigns.

Second, ride-share drivers and companies are explicitly included. The Act updates the definition of a “commercial motor vehicle” to include any vehicle owned or operated by a transportation network company (think Uber or Lyft) (SEC. 4). While this study is about safety and not immediate regulation, this definitional change could set the stage for applying future safety standards or regulations, derived from this study, directly to ride-share fleets.

Finally, there’s a procedural detail that grants the Secretary of Transportation significant power: Section 5 states that if a court finds any term in this new law to be unclear, the court must defer to the Secretary’s interpretation, provided that interpretation is “reasonable.” This gives the Secretary a lot of latitude in how the study is executed and how the resulting recommendations are framed, which is something to watch closely as the process begins.