AUTOINC. ONLINE - House Auto Safety Bill Has Expansive Reach

House Auto Safety Bill Has Expansive Reach

Posted 8/13/2012
By Robert L. Redding Jr.

Legislation continues federal interest in auto electronics.

Legislation recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives touches a wide array of automotive issues, some important to both mechanical and collision independent repairers. Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.), chairwoman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade introduced H.R. 6051, the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2012.

The bill has been referred to Bono Mack’s committee and subcommittee, which has jurisdiction for automotive safety. The subcommittee is responsible for areas related to interstate and foreign commerce, including all trade matters within the jurisdiction of the full committee; regulation of commercial practices (the FTC), including sports-related matters; consumer affairs and consumer protection, including privacy matters generally; consumer product safety commission; product liability; motor vehicle safety; and regulation of travel, tourism and time.

Included in the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2012 are provisions such as:

Safety belt nonuse stipulations
Electronic disclosures of odometer information
Increased penalties for odometer fraud
Import restrictions on noncompliant vehicles
Port inspections and testing
Public availability of recall information
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Hotline for manufacturers, dealers and technicians
Passenger motor vehicle information program
Promotion of defect reporting
Study of crash data collection
Recall improvements
Expansion of remedies available to manufacturers of replacement equipment
NHTSA electronics, software and engineering expertise
Electronic systems performance
Child safety seats
Rear seatbelt reminders

ASA provided a team of ASA members to meet with NHTSA to improve on the opportunities for independent repairers and technicians to communicate with NHTSA safety defect personnel about patterns or problems with particular vehicles or vehicle parts. Bono Mack’s bill would require NHTSA to be more proactive in its effort to reach out to independent repairers about safety defects in vehicles and parts.

The bill contains extensive language concerning the U.S. Secretary of Transportation reporting to the House and Senate Commerce Committees regarding the “quality of data collected through the National Automotive Sampling System, including the Special Crash Investigations Program.” This includes specific analyses as to whether NHTSA should conduct more crash investigations and the value of additional analysis and conclusions if more crash investigations were done each year.

Finally, also included is a section on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Electronics, Software, and Engineering Expertise, which references the Council for Vehicle Electronics, Vehicle Software and Emerging Technologies to build, integrate and aggregate the administration’s expertise in passenger motor vehicle electronics and other new and emerging technologies. ASA had previously reported on the National Research Council’s (NRC) report on Automotive Electronic Safety, which called for more NHTSA oversight on new vehicle technologies. The NRC report can be found on ASA’s legislative website, www.TakingtheHill.com.

There are less than 30 legislative days in the 112th Congress. It is questionable whether we will see a motor vehicle safety bill move before the end of the year. There is certainly interest in both the House and Senate in seeing some type of new vehicle safety legislation sent to the president for signature. It is most likely that safety legislation will be considered during the lame duck Congress, post election, or in 2013. To view Bono Mack’s vehicle safety bill and related information, please go to www.TakingtheHill.com.

Taking the Hill

FTC Releases Guides for Rebuilt, Reconditioned and Other Used Automobile Parts; Asks Industry for Its Comments

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reviews all current FTC rules and guides, and is issuing a public comment period on the costs, benefits, necessity for, and regulatory economic impact of its Guides for the Rebuilt, Reconditioned and Other Used Automobile Parts Industry.

Comments are due by Aug. 3.

The purpose of The Used Auto Parts Guides is to prevent unfair or deceptive practices in advertising the sale of pre-used motor vehicle parts, engines and transmissions. These guides currently apply to used parts in automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, etc. The guides are meant to prohibit misrepresentations that an industry’s product is new and misrepresentations of it being “the current condition, or extent of previous use, reconstruction, or repair of” an industry product. According to the guidelines, the products must be clearly and conspicuously identified as such in advertisements, on packaging and, if the product appears new, on the product itself.

Bill to Promote Small Business Hiring Dies in Senate

Recently, The Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief bill was blocked in the U.S. Senate. The bill would have granted small businesses 10 percent tax breaks for expanding payrolls either through hiring or salary increases, and would have extended the 100 percent bonus depreciation that businesses can take on assets for another year. The bill, which also contains a break on the alternative minimum tax for corporate taxpayers, would cost about $28 billion overall. The small business tax cut bill died in a 53-44 vote on the Senate floor, with 60 votes required to move forward.

– Kaitlyn Dwyer

Bob Redding Bob Redding is the Automotive Service Association's Washington, D.C., representative. He is a member of several federal and state advisory committees involved in the automotive industry.
For more information about the legislative activities of ASA, visit www.TakingTheHill.com.