Once again, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and elected officials are pushing congress to pass laws that require car rental companies and used car dealerships to fix recalls before vehicles can be rented or sold. Under current federal law, rental companies and used car dealers are not required to fix a defect, or even tell you that there is a problem, before you drive a vehicle off their lot. This lack of regulation puts drivers at risk and has lead to fatal crashes.
But this problem is not new. Other Congress members have tried to improve recall requirements for many years. Charles “Chuck” Shumer (Dem-New York) introduced the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act in July 2013 and a California auto safety bill proposed in 2013 failed after facing opposition from CarMax and the California New Car Dealers Association. These proposals are part of the Grow America Act, a bill designed to improve roadways, address transportation priorities, and address safety concerns such as automobile recalls.
Below is a summary of some of the provisions of the Grow America and how it would affect vehicle safety as taken from the U.S. Department of Transportation website.
Allows the NHTSA to Immediately Address Dangerous Conditions
Currently NHTSA cannot require manufacturers to immediately stop sales of vehicles or equipment or immediately repairing vehicles or equipment without following substantial and time-consuming procedural steps. Further, recall investigations can take time and under certain circumstances put travelers at risk of injury or death if regulators do not have the ability to take immediate action where the likelihood of death or serious injury is imminent. The GROW AMERICA Act will allow NHTSA to issue an imminent hazard order requiring manufacturers to immediately take action to alleviate harm in cases where there is an imminent risk of injury or death. This authority will allow NHTSA to respond immediately without first determining that a defect exists or hearing the views of the manufacturer, as required under current law.Holds Companies Accountable for Vehicle Defects
The GROW AMERICA Act protects car renters and owners by expanding authority to penalize bad actors for selling or renting faulty equipment. To ensure that motor vehicle companies comply with safety standards, the GROW AMERICA Act increases the limit for civil penalties for violators from $35 million to $300 million. It also amends recall authority to require rental companies and used car dealers to fix vehicles before making them available to the public.Improves Vehicle Recall Notifications for Consumers
Today, if a safety defect is discovered the manufacturer must notify NHTSA, as well as vehicle or equipment owners, dealers, and distributors. With nearly 64 million recalls in 2014 alone, consumers need more assistance in tracking open recalls. Vehicle recall completion rates for motor vehicles are too low, leaving many in the public at risk of death or serious injury. Many consumers get their vehicles serviced at independent repair shops, which don’t participate in recall services. Some consumers who get a recall notice may not act on the notice before selling their vehicles to others who are unaware of the open recall. The GROW AMERICA Act will address the consumer notification challenge in two ways:
- Requires franchise dealers of a motor vehicle manufacturer to check VINs for open recalls every time a vehicle from that manufacturer is brought in for service and notify the vehicle owner; and
- Addresses the problem of notice to subsequent purchasers and consumers who do not use franchise dealers for repairs, by establishing a pilot grant program under which a participating State will inform each consumer, at the time of registration in the State, of any open recall on that vehicle.
