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Expansive Auto Safety Bill Makes It through Senate Committee

A far-reaching auto safety bill has just been approved by a Senate committee. The bill will penalize automakers for failing to report safety defects and it also increases the powers of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Last month, the bill was approved by a House committee amid major wrangling by automakers who opposed some of the measures contained in the bill. These include a provision requiring all vehicles to come with black box data recorders.

The need for an auto safety bill was felt strongly after the Toyota sudden and unintended acceleration crisis broke out last year. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, at least 89 people have been confirmed dead in accidents involving sudden acceleration in Toyota cars.

Since the scandal broke headlines, it has become clear that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with its current powers, is woefully ill equipped to speed up the process of recalls after auto defects are discovered. Lawmakers quickly began the process of drafting legislation, a process that has been full of intense fighting between automakers and the federal safety agency. The automakers have made clear their opposition to certain provisions of the legislation that would include requiring blackbox data recorders in all cars. Installation of these devices would increase costs for automakers, but make it easier for investigators to trace the last seconds of a crash, thereby providing vital clues into an accident.

The auto safety bill also contains provisions that would allow the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to impose fines of up to $300 million on companies that did not report auto defects to the NHTSA as soon as these defects were found. Currently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration can only impose maximum penalties of $16.4 million on errant automakers. Earlier this year, the agency imposed the maximum penalty on Toyota, and California injury lawyers, consumer safety groups and motorists have been enraged at the ridiculously low penalties imposed on the Japanese automaker. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will also benefit from having a major spike in its budget. The agency currently functions on a paltry budget of around $140 million however the budget will be hiked to approximately $280 million by 2013.

The bill in its current format approved by the Senate committee, is not exactly what California injury lawyers and consumer safety groups would like to see. The bill, for instance, does not contain a provision that was included in the version of the bill that passed a House committee last month. That bill contained a provision that would remove federal preemption in auto liability lawsuits. Several American consumers who have been injured in accidents caused by auto defects, have been unable to pursue justice because of the doctrine of federal preemption that prevents consumers from suing auto companies that meet federal safety regulations. The provision was removed from the Senate version of the bill.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of motor vehicle defects. Please visit our website at http://www.robertreeveslaw.com/. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us at contact@robertreeveslaw.com.

The Reeves Law Group is not representing any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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