The proposed Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2010, discussed by the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee in May 2010, would give the National Highway Traffic & Safety Administration (NHSTA) more regulatory power over vehicle safety issues. In the outbreak of Toyota’s 9 million vehicle recall following its defective accelerator and steering, consumers and consumer advocates are looking to government for greater oversight and regulation.
The NHTSA already has a number of safety regulations, including a regulation requiring that by 2013, all new vehicles sold within the United States contain an Electronic Data Recorder (EDR), essentially a black box.
The New York Times from July 31, 2010, reported:
In addition to this existing regulation, the proposed Act would require all vehicles to have a brake override system to ensure that a vehicle can be stopped even if the throttle is open. Pedals must exceed a minimum clearance from the floor to avoid snagging car mats. Electronic control systems must meet minimum performance standards, to be set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And all vehicles must come fitted with recorders that log operational data and help determine the causes of accidents.
The bills also give N.H.T.S.A. a bigger stick. Currently, the maximum fine that can be imposed on a company for failing to promptly notify the agency about a safety problem is a paltry $15 million. The bills propose raising the cap to $200 million or $300 million. And they establish that a senior company official would have personal legal responsibility for safety reports submitted to the regulator. The Senate version requires that this person be the company’s top United States-based executive.
But perhaps more important, the bill would broadly change the system of overseeing and enforcing safety rules. That should help the N.H.T.S.A. identify serious problems faster and provide tools to ensure automakers’ compliance with its standards of safety and disclosure.
Both the House and the Senate versions of the bill demand public disclosure of early warning data about defects, which should encourage drivers to report safety problems. They call for the creation of a safety hot line and extend whistle-blower protections to employees of carmakers, dealers and suppliers. To reduce conflicts of interest, both bills have provisions imposing long interim periods before former N.H.T.S.A. employees can lobby for car companies.
Both versions vastly increase the N.H.T.S.A.’s resources — which today amount to a paltry 1 percent of the Department of Transportation’s budget. The House version goes further, requiring that carmakers pay a fee that would start at $3 for each vehicle they sell. The fee would rise every year, to help pay for the agency’s monitoring efforts.
Copyright © 2010 The Filutowski Law Firm, PLLC. This post is intended for general information purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice or legal opinions on any specific facts or circumstances. An attorney-client relationship is not created or continued by reading this post. If you would like further information regarding the matters discussed herein, you may post a comment. If you need a consultation on a legal matter, contact Alexandra Filutowski.
