Foreign automakers will oppose beefed up car safety regulations
Neil Roland
Automotive News — May 5, 2010
WASHINGTON — Foreign automakers plan to fight back tomorrow against a House bill aimed at improving car safety and tightening federal oversight in the wake of Toyota’s sudden acceleration problems.
They’ll have support from a number of Republicans, said Rep. Michael Rogers, R-Mich.
Michael Stanton, CEO of the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, will urge that more time be allotted before automakers have to install brake-override systems and black box technology in new vehicles, a copy of his testimony shows.
The group, whose members include Honda, Nissan and Subaru, also opposes increases in possible fines for cars with safety defects, Stanton says. He also criticizes proposed vehicle fees on car companies to finance increased National Highway Traffic Safety Administration resources.
“The deadlines for many rulemaking mandates appear to be unreasonably short and provide for insufficient lead time,” Stanton’s testimony says.
He adds that the proposed elimination of a $16.4 million cap on safety penalties “would risk bankrupting a manufacturer.”
Bill refinements?
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, another automaker group that includes the largest domestic and foreign companies, supports adoption of tougher brake-override and black-box standards — as long as the black boxes are cheaper than those on airplanes.
Alliance CEO Dave McCurdy will ask that the bill be pared to focus on these measures as well as the establishment of a new NHTSA unit to strengthen the agency’s electronics expertise, a copy of his testimony shows.
Toyota is a member of both industry lobbies.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has previously endorsed more widespread adoption of brake-override systems and said he is considering proposing a new rule.
Tomorrow’s hearing before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on commerce is scheduled to hear testimony from NHTSA Administrator David Strickland and consumer advocates, as well as Stanton and McCurdy.
The draft bill will be discussed but not voted on, a committee spokeswoman said. Similar Senate legislation was introduced yesterday by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.
“Recent Toyota recalls showed an urgent need to update safety standards to reflect modern vehicle technology and give auto safety regulators the stronger tools and resources they need to protect the public,” Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, said yesterday.
Among the key provisions of the House bill: tougher standards for brake override systems that would halt engine power if the brake and gas pedals were depressed at the same time; tougher standards for black boxes that collect crash data for use in analyzing the causes of accidents, and elimination of the penalty cap that limited the fine against Toyota to $16.4 million.
The House measure also would impose a fee of $3 a vehicle, increasing to $9 in three years, to beef up NHTSA resources. Appropriations for vehicle-safety programs at NHTSA would double to $280 million by fiscal 2013.
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