House Auto Safety Bill More Balanced Than Senate Safety Bill
12 October 2000
House Auto Safety Bill More Balanced Than Senate Safety Bill WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 Automobile manufacturers described the
House auto safety bill (H.R. 5164) passed early today as challenging
legislation, yet acknowledged that it is more workable than the Senate version
of the bill.
"Automakers support the intent of safety legislation now being debated in
Congress to achieve earlier detection of safety-related defects and faster
correction of those defects," said Alliance President & CEO Josephine S.
Cooper. "The good thing about the House bill is that it doesn't turn safety
engineers wearing white lab coats into hardened criminals," she added.
"Though we continue to oppose the criminal penalties provision, the House
bill as passed is more balanced than the current Senate version because the
House bill provides an objective standard about what is and what is not a
criminal act," Cooper continued. "Auto engineers need that bright line.
Real-world experience under other federal programs has pointedly illustrated
the significant chilling effect that the prospect of criminal penalties can
have on investigations. The House bill will allow automakers to maintain and
enhance their working relationship with NHTSA. By providing more stringent
penalties in egregious cases for a person already engaged in criminal
deception of the government, and by providing that the offense must be
intentional, the House approach allows a conscientious person to do what is
necessary to avoid criminal liability, which should be the goal of all
criminal statutes."
The House bill also includes a provision directing NHTSA to establish new
reporting requirements through rulemaking.
"The industry is pleased that the reporting requirements will be developed
through a rulemaking to ensure that NHTSA receives the appropriate and useful
information to improve overall safety," Cooper said. "This will enable us to
continue to work in good faith with NHTSA, and will help to ensure that both
NHTSA and the industry can identify safety-related defects sooner. Speedy
information flow will help to enhance early detection and quick correction of
safety-related defects on motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment. Most
important, NHTSA officials won't be buried in mountains of paper."
The House bill, called the Transportation Recall Enhancement,
Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act, was sponsored by Reps. Billy
Tauzin (R-Louisiana) and Fred Upton (R-Michigan). A Senate auto safety bill
was sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona).
