Neil Roland – Automotive News -

The Senate Commerce Committee voted today to pass a far-reaching vehicle safety bill that has largely won both automaker and consumer support, sending the measure to the full Senate.  The bill passed without objections from any senators.  The legislation, crafted in the wake of Toyota’s safety recalls this year, resembles a House bill that also is now on the floor of that chamber.

Auto-industry lobbyists have said they expect Congress to pass the legislation sometime this summer and that President Barack Obama will sign it.  The Senate panel headed by U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., today approved a number of bill revisions that were sought by the auto industry.  “This is a critical public safety bill that will affect the lives of millions of Americans on the road every day,” Rockefeller said at the hearing. Read the rest of this entry →

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched an investigation of 2010 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan vehicles regarding allegations of possible stuck accelerator pedals caused by optional “All Weather” floor mats.  NHTSA warns that drivers of those models should not stack any unsecured floor mats over the carpeted mat that comes standard on the vehicle.  Reports indicate that approximately 249,300 vehicles are being investigated.

New auto safety legislation proposed in the wake of Toyota’s recall problems is drawing criticism from House Republicans and Michigan Democrat John Dingell, suggesting that changes are in store for the Democratic leaders’ bill.  Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee said almost unanimously today that the draft bill would unduly expand government authority and undercut automakers while they are rebounding from a severe slump.  “I’m not sure it’s time to pile on the auto industry,” Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the committee, said at the hearing of the subcommittee on commerce.

Dingell, in a statement, said: “As with most first drafts of legislation, the Waxman-Rush bill has provisions that, in my view, require improvement, especially as they relate to the bill’s practicability, both for federal regulators and those subject to federal regulation,” Dingell said in a statement.  Chairman Henry Waxman, the bill’s chief sponsor, said his goal was to have the committee pass a bill that both Dingell and he could support. Read the rest of this entry →

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman have announced plans to work together on legislation to improve automobile safety as a response to the problems experienced by Toyota recently.

Rockefeller’s Bill “will hold automakers to a higher standard and strengthen the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s ability to more effectively protect Americans on the road.”  Waxman wants NHTSA to be assured “the resources, expertise and authority it needs to protect consumers from vehicle safety defects.”  The joint statement they issued did not disclose details of the planned legislation or say when it would be introduced.  Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has endorsed the idea of new legislation.

Automotive News: April 8, 2010

Toyota Motor corp. knew about flaws that could cause unintended acceleration more than 3 1/2 years before it recalled cars and trucks to fix the defects, according to company timelines.  Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, learned that floor mats could entrap accelerator pedals as early as Feb. 7, 2006, and was aware five months later that pedals could stick, according to documents dated March 24 that were submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and obtained Thursday.  The timelines show what Toyota has said was a slow response that led to the recall of about 8 million vehicles worldwide starting last year to repair the two types of acceleration-related defects.

The first report was from a model year 2005 Prius hybrid “regarding floor mat interference with an accelerator pedal,” according to the documents, which were sent by the carmaker to the safety agency.  Martha Voss, a Washington-based spokeswoman for Toyota, had no immediate comment.  Toyota began recalls for the two pedal-related defects after an Aug. 28 Lexus sedan crash killed off-duty California Highway Patrol officer Mark Saylor and three family members when a floor mat jammed down the accelerator pedal. Read the rest of this entry →

WASHINGTON — An internal review launched by the Transportation Department must determine if the DOT unit charged with monitoring vehicle safety is too close to the auto industry to do its job, the Senate Commerce Committee said in a letter today.  The review of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration by DOT’s inspector general’s office should examine whether industry-government ties have hampered NHTSA’s consideration of possible electronic defects in Toyota vehicles, the letter said.

“Recent reports indicate that NHTSA may have internal deficiencies in investigating certain safety defects, and even worse, the potential to be excessively influenced by the industry they are supposed to oversee on the public’s behalf,” said committee chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., chairman of the committee’s protection panel.  The letter contains the first indication that the Department of Transportation is supplementing investigations by congressional committees of NHTSA’s performance in the Toyota unintended-acceleration controversy. Read the rest of this entry →