The U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, Energy and Commerce Committee, held a mark-up session on the "Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2010." The bill would expand the authority of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., chairman of the subcommittee, opened the mark-up session by stating, "We recently released draft legislation which is designed to strengthen the NHTSA’s ability to move effectively and proactively to fulfill its core mission. Our common objective is to ensure the safety of every American who gets behind the wheel of a car. While we can’t control a driver’s behavior, literally, I think it is within our ability to put into place a strong and clear set of regulations that auto manufacturers must abide by."
The subcommittee reports that the bill will:
• Provide NHTSA with more expertise in the area of electronics, create more advanced technology, and allow the agency to hire and train more engineers;
• Establish a fellowship that will encourage engineering students in college to work for the government;
• Restore, enhance and sustain a highly intelligent data source that will better ensure public safety through the National Automobile Sampling System (NASS);
• Promote safety and innovation by creating required standards that protect consumers, particularly those related to electronics and unintended acceleration;
• Require that all automobiles be equipped with event data recorders to record crash information;
• Promote transparency and accountability;
• Increases transparency by requiring the disclosure of more safety information to consumers and requiring that NHTSA make its vehicle safety databases more useful;
• Increase the accountability of manufacturers by holding them more responsible for information supplied to NHTSA;
• Support the agency’s vehicle safety programs by creating "a vehicle safety user fee paid by the vehicle manufacturer for each vehicle, certified to meet the federal motor vehicle safety standards, for sale in the United States";
• Double the current authorization level for NHTSA’s vehicle safety programs over three years.
U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., a member of the subcommittee, said that the NHTSA administrator, during the committee hearing, pointed out that he believed NHTSA’s resources were adequate to meet the needs of the current situation. Whitfield also mentioned that the United States is presently in the safest period in automobile history.
NHTSA’s latest report reveals the lowest fatality rate on record at 1.16 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, as compared to 3.3 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 1980. Finally, Whitfield pointed out that the committee would double the appropriations to NHTSA’s vehicle safety programs, and that it would be an unnecessary increase in spending during such a time when our country’s federal deficit is so high.
More information:
To view the subcommittee mark-up legislation and the testimony from an earlier hearing, visit ASA’s legislative website at www.TakingTheHill.com.
