Due to recent recalls and vehicle safety concerns, U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, introduced S.2559. The bill would provide greater transparency, accountability and safety authority to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The bill calls for greater transparency from the NHTSA by requiring all technical service bulletins, customer satisfaction campaigns and advisories as well as recalls consumer complaints, warranty claims and field reports to be made available to the public.
S.2559 will also require NHTSA to make regular reports to Congress, including a report on the results of a study of the use of early warning data. The study will evaluate the number of safety defect investigations opened by NHTSA as well as the duration of each study and the percentage of safety defect investigations that result in safety defect or recall. An additional report would require the secretary of transportation to prepare a report in regard to the operations of the Council for Vehicle Electronic, Vehicle Software and Emerging Technologies.
The proposed bill would also increase NHTSA’s funding for vehicle safety programs. The funding would come from a manufacturer’s fee of $3 per vehicle starting in 2015, then raising to $6 in 2016 and $9 in 2017. The fee is based on domestic sales.
The bill has been read twice and has now been referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. For more information about S.2559 and further updates to its progress click here.
