National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Plans to Improve Defective Auto Equipment Recalls

The new head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced improving auto defect analysis and auto equipment recall system to be the top priority for the agency. This change in leadership has come in the wake of two major auto defect recall scandals that drew wide criticism for the agency, which is responsible for the writing and enforcement of safety performance standards for the auto industry.
Mark Rosekind was sworn in as administrator for the NHTSA this past December, filling a seat left vacant for more than a year. Mr. Rosekind is a former NASA scientist and member of the National Transportation Safety Board. He is known worldwide as a passionate travel safety advocate and leading expert on human fatigue.

Recently, the NHTSA has come under fire from safety officials and lawmakers who have accused the agency of either overlooking or failing to recognize evidence of deadly auto defects in GM ignition switches and exploding Takata Corp airbags. Both have been linked to several deaths and many more serious injuries that some claim could have been prevented if the NHTSA had acted sooner on consumer’s complaints.

Rosekind called those cases latent failures in the agency’s recall system which he plans to address by pushing Congress for more resources and authority. This will include hiring additional staff and employing better technology to handle the large number of consumer complaints received by the agency.

Currently, there are just nine NHTSA employees responsible for reviewing all consumer safety complaints, which last year topped 75,000. Consumer complaints play a central role in the NHTSA’s investigation of possible auto defects in vehicles and equipment. Rosekind says he plans to hire additional department staff to collect and review complaints, and also implement new software designed to analyze and recognize auto defect patterns in vehicles and equipment.

In addition to staff and technology improvements, Rosekind plans to aggressively pursue automakers and suppliers who violate safety standards or try to delay necessary defective product recalls. The current maximum fine for companies that fail to report serious safety defects is $35 million. Rosekind has proposed that raising the fine to $300 million will send a more effective message that the NHTSA will not tolerate companies that break the rules.

Before additional authority and funding is granted to the NHTSA, it must first be approved by Congress. Rosekind has acknowledged this challenge, and said he will pursue other agency improvements regardless of funding.