• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • Ford Announces Massive Solar Power Program – Michigan Factories to Use 100% Green Energy
  • Lucid Turns to The Dark Side
  • Ford Hikes F-150 Lightning Prices as Much as $7,000
  • 2023 Honda Pilot TrailSport Does a Where’s Waldo Impression
  • EVs, Executives and More on the Latest Headlight News Podcast
  • Tesla Accused of False Advertising by California DMV
  • FTC Proposes Crackdown on Shady Auto Dealer Practices
  • Tesla Overtakes Mercedes-Benz in Europe
  • Two Years Late, Tesla Cybertruck Will Now Cost More
  • U.S. Senate’s Inflation Reduction Act Reinstates EV Tax Credits — With Limits
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2022 Toyota RAV4 Prime XSE AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Kia Sportage Hybrid EX AWD
    • A Week With: 2022 Volkswagen Golf GTI 2.0 Autobahn
    • A Week With: 2022 Infiniti QX60 Luxe AWD
    • First Drive: 2023 Genesis G90
    • A Week With: 2022 BMW M4 Competition xDrive Convertible
    • A Week With: 2022 Jaguar F-Pace R Dynamic S
    • A Week With: Genesis GV70 3.5T AWD Sport Prestige
    • First Drive: 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQB
    • We Drive the Record-Setting Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automobiles > Senate Providing Protection for Whistleblowers

        Senate Providing Protection for Whistleblowers

        Bills could pay informants more than $10 million for information.

        Michael Strong
        Michael Strong , Managing Editor
        April 29, 2015
        President Barack Obama looking to expand funding the investigations arm of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

        The more than doubling of the previous record for automotive recalls last year – 60 million-plus vehicles – was the result of someone taking a stand and now legislation aimed at protecting future whistleblowers has passed the U.S. Senate and is awaiting a vote in the House.

        The Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act, which was first proposed in November, permits incentives for whistleblowers – in the millions of dollars – if they reveal dangerous products or practices by automakers.

        Your Trusted Online Source!

        The bill allows the U.S. transportation secretary discretion to award up to 30% of the total monetary penalties resulting from Department of Transportation or Justice Department enforcement actions that total more than $1 million. The bill covers employees or contractors of motor vehicle manufacturers, parts suppliers and dealerships.

        In short, if an automaker is fined the current maximum of $35 million, the whistleblower could be awarded $10.5 million.

        “This bill provides important incentives for whistle-blowers in the auto industry to bring safety concerns to the attention of federal regulators when harmful safety defects are not reported,” said Senate Commerce chairman John Thune, R-S.D.

        “While laws and regulations currently provide certain penalties for unaddressed safety failures, this legislation seeks to help identify and stop problems before anyone is killed or seriously injured.”

        (Feds push for new laws to speed recalls, raise fines. For more, Click Here.)

        The bill, which is now before the House awaiting a vote, covers “original information.” In short, the whistleblowers need to provide information to federal officials that they did not already know about a defect, reporting violation or some form of non-compliance that could cause a “risk of death or serious injury.”

        (Click Here for details Ford’s recall of nearly 600K vehicles.)

        The bill is modeled on existing statutory whistleblower protections for individuals that share information with the Internal Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission. It’s part of a concerted effort to improve the enforcement of capability of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

        (To see how motorists make it easier for thieves to steal cars, Click Here.)

        The Obama Administration has proposed tripling NHTSA’s budget for defects detection budget and doubling its staff while increasing the amount automakers can be fined 10-fold from $35 million to $350 million for violations.

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published
        Ford - DTE Solar

        Ford Announces Massive Solar Power Program – Michigan Factories to Use 100% Green Energy

        Today

        Lucid Turns to The Dark Side

        Yesterday

        Ford Hikes F-150 Lightning Prices as Much as $7,000

        Yesterday

        One response to “Senate Providing Protection for Whistleblowers”

        1. Jorge says:
          May 1, 2015 at 10:35 am

          This is a case of bad economics IMO. Do we really need to pay someone a million dollars let alone ten million dollars to report a safety defect? If so where did their morals and ethics go?

          With the recent NHTSA fines and recalls I doubt we need a knee-jerk reaction to safety defects. A moderate increase in NHTSA’s budget may be in order but I’m still wondering where the reported $8/per car NHTSA tax went to that was suppose to be imposed years ago???

          More NHTSA investigators may be useful up to a point. With the auto makers now aware of the ramifications both legal and financial for product safety defects, it appears they have gotten the “memo” and are acting proactively to address past and current safety issues – for the most part.

          I still don’t understand how BMW has been allowed to NOT recall all of the X35i models sold with defective high fuel pressure fuel pumps that cause the vehicle to just shut off at speed and leave the driver helpless including with no power steering assist. NHTSA has this issue on their website as a documented safety defect and accidents have been reported so why BMW has not been required to properly replace the fuel system in these cars, which are still on the highways, is unknown.

          To me this is a clear failure on NHTSA’s part, especially after 20/20 or whomever it was did a TV special on this serious safety issue in all X35i powered BMW models. BMW has never resolved these fuel pump failures. All that BMW did was agree to extend the warranty. A warranty doesn’t prevent an accident waiting to happen. These extended warranty agreements with NHTSA are basically a cop out by NHTSA for failure to force a proper safety recall and repair of these BMW vehicles.

          Reply

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2022
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: