Just days after U.S. Senators laid into auto safety regulators during a committee hearing, a group of House Democrats introduced an auto safety reform bill mandating automakers make information about potential safety problems more easily accessible.
Introduced yesterday, the Vehicle Safety Improvement Act requires makers to make public technical service bulletins, ban recalls that apply to only certain parts of the country, and require car companies to keep records about possible defects for 20 years.
Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., submitted the bill that would also eliminate the $35 million cap on maximum fines, which is likely to rise to the $300 million recommended by the Obama administration.
“The Vehicle Safety Improvement Act provides a meaningful response to this year’s motor vehicle recalls, which exposed far too many shortcomings in federal oversight of the safety of our roads,” said Waxman. “The bill empowers consumers and holds auto manufacturers accountable for illegal behavior that all too often leads to tragedy.”
This bill is just one of several that attempting to avoid a repeat of the much-publicized problems with General Motors faulty ignition switch, which caused 19 deaths.
Some of the others would:
- Impose new vehicle taxes to pay for added auto safety investigations
- Subject auto executives to lengthy prison terms for hiding auto safety defects.
Congress appears unlikely to address any of the proposed laws this year, but instead tackle them next year when it must handle an extension of highway funding.
(Senators excoriate NHTSA’s interim chief in committee hearing. For more, Click Here.)
“The GM ignition switch recall proved that our vehicle safety laws must be strengthened,” Schakowsky said in a released statement. “This bill promotes common-sense steps to improve oversight and public access to information while doing more to hold automakers accountable for their actions — or failure to act.”
(Click Here for details FCA and Hyundai’s moves to posh new digs.)
The bill would ban dealers from selling unrepaired used vehicles. Dealers are required only to fix new vehicle recalls under current federal law.
(To see Nissan’s denial of speculation about plans to cut its EV programs, Click Here.)
It mimics other proposals in areas that give NHTSA more authority, including expediting recalls for problems that increase the likelihood of serious injury or death. The process now can take months or years. Often it requires a court order to get the recall enforced.
