WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump's nominee to serve as the nation's top auto safety regulator will tell U.S. senators Wednesday that the agency must take an active role in overseeing self-driving vehicles and other new technologies.

Jonathan Morrison, who served as chief counsel of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration during the first Trump administration and previously worked as a lawyer for Apple, said in written testimony seen by Reuters that autonomous vehicles offer potential benefits but introduce unique risks.

"NHTSA cannot sit back and wait for problems to arise with such developing technologies, but must demonstrate strong leadership," Morrison said.