NHTSA Audit
Last month, the Transportation Department’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) announced that it would be auditing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and its federal oversight of motor vehicle safety standards.
The audit is based on preliminary estimates from (NHTSA) that more than 36,000 people were killed in motor vehicle collisions in the U.S. during 2019.
One Mission of the NHTSA is to Prevent Crashes
Part of the mission of the NHTSA is to reduce and prevent motor vehicle crashes, and in doing so, establish Federal Motor Vehicle Safety (FMVS) standards. The FMVS standards incorporate federal laws that are supposed to improve traffic safety by specifying the construction, design, durability, and performance requirements for new vehicles and regulate safety accessories such as seatbelts and airbags.
The Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance under the NHTSA has the responsibility to ensure that manufacturers are complying with FMVS standards. This includes enforcing regulations, testing new vehicles, and monitoring and reviewing requirements in several other areas.
OIG to Look at NHTSA’s Standards
The OIG recognized that it is critically important to the traveling public that every new vehicle and its components meet federal safety standards. They will be reviewing NHTSA’s process as it relates to FMVS standards in order to assess NHTSA’s efforts to initiate and enforce federal safety standards. The audit will be conducted at NHTSA Headquarters, testing laboratories, and select regional offices, as needed.
NHTSA issued a statement that it would provide any pertinent information that was requested and intends to fully comply with OIG’s audit.
NHTSA Audit Spurred by Rewrite Proposals
The audit comes on the heels of NHTSA’s decision in March 2020 to propose sweeping changes to federal safety requirements in order to hasten the approval to market of self-driving vehicles. At that time, NHTSA proposed a rewrite of 11 vehicle safety standards that relate to traditional manual controls. The agency also proposed revisions to rules related to steering controls, occupant protection, door locks, glazing materials, side-impact protection, seating systems, child restraint systems, and roof crush resistance. It seems as though the proposed sweeping rewrites, along with a steady annual death toll, alerted the Office of the Inspector General.
Federal Bureaucracy Means Slow Change
The process to enact new vehicle safety standards is a slow one – It often takes years for the NHTSA to adopt new standards or finalize changes to them. For example, in 2010, Congress demanded that electric vehicles, because they are so quiet, emit an alert sound in order to warn pedestrians. Those rules were not finalized until February 2018.
Furthermore, a former NHTSA deputy administrator stated that the agency under the Trump Administration has failed to enact any significant life-saving regulations. He called it a clear failure of the agency’s mission to prevent injuries and save lives, especially considering the new technologies that could drastically reduce the yearly death toll.
Do you wonder what the NHTSA actually does? One thing they do is public service announcements. Here is one from YouTube.
Lincoln Wrongful Death Lawyer
Thank you for reading. I’m Ed Smith, a wrongful death lawyer in Lincoln, California. We know that the accidental loss of a loved one is devastating. No legal case will help to lessen the grief. Nonetheless, it is important to remember that if your loved one was killed due to the negligence of another, the grieving family may be entitled to financial recovery. At least that may help ease some of the financial burden caused by the untimely death. We hope you never have to face this situation, but know that if you do, we are here to offer compassionate, free, and friendly advice. Call us at (916) 921-6400, or if you are from outside the region, my toll-free number is (800) 404-5400. There is also an online contact form on my website, AutoAccident.com, if you prefer.
For nearly 40 years, I have advocated on behalf of injured and grieving Lincoln residents. Reviews from some of my former clients and a sampling of past case results can be found at the links below:
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