Motor Vehicle Safety: Issues for Congress

Motor Vehicle Safety: Issues for Congress
January 26, 2021
Vehicle safety is a significant issue as Congress considers a replacement for the current
authorization of surface transportation programs, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation
Bill Canis
Act (FAST Act; P.L. 114-94), which expires at the end of FY2021. Vehicle safety provisions
Specialist in Industrial
were included in the Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2; 116th Congress), passed by the House of
Organization and Business
Representatives in July 2020; the legislation was not enacted.

Responsibility for motor vehicle safety lies with the National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration (NHTSA) within the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency’s
performance has been controversial, in part because of its handling of the largest-ever recall, involving more than 63 million
Takata airbags; since the recall was ordered in 2015, nearly 16 million potentially defective airbags have not been replaced.
NHTSA has been without a Senate-confirmed administrator since 2017.
Under federal law, NHTSA has the power to promulgate standards for cars and light trucks. The combination of new vehicle
designs, greater vehicle automation, and federal standards—including those for seat belts, airbags, hood and door latches, and
children’s car seats—has contributed to a reduction in the fatality rate by 80% over the past six decades. NHTSA does not
approve vehicles before they are manufactured, but may order or encourage a vehicle or parts manufacturer to recall products
that violate its standards.
Among the vehicle safety issues Congress may address in the reauthorization process are:
Recall compliance rates. According to NHTSA researchers, the combined annual completion rate for all automakers subject
to a recall between 2010 and 2014 was 67%, meaning that many vehicles with safety defects remain on the road. Congress
may consider additions or modifications to 2015 reforms that brought rental car fleets under federal recall requirements and
introduced new methods to contact consumers about pending recalls.
Defect investigations. The DOT Inspector General identified problems at NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation in 2015
and again in 2018. Although recommendations to improve its management of defects investigations appear to have been
implemented, the Trump Administration sought to reduce spending on vehicle safety investigations. Congress may want to
examine whether the defect investigation process is adequate.
Pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities. Vehicle crashes causing fatalities and injuries to pedestrians and bicyclists have reached
a 30-year high. A number of other countries require that new vehicles include pedestrian crash mitigation systems, and
Congress may consider whether such technologies should be mandated in the United States.
Rear seat warnings. Although Congress has previously called for NHTSA to require that vehicles warn drivers when
passengers in rear seats have not locked their seat belts, such a regulation has not been issued. In addition, Congress has twice
previously called for NHTSA to require that new vehicles have systems to warn drivers about children inadvertently left
unattended in the back seats of parked cars. No such regulation has been issued.
Driver privacy. New vehicles must be equipped with “black boxes” that collect data about vehicle operations. The FAST
Act specified that data recorded just before a crash is the property of the owner, but similar protections do not apply to the
large volumes of data collected and stored by vehicle computers during normal operations. In 2018, the Secretary of
Transportation reported to Congress that requiring storage of data for a longer period prior to a crash would be appropriate.
Congress has not addressed broader questions concerning the ownership and use of data collected aboard vehicles.
Tires. Congress has previously required that NHTSA establish a publicly accessible database for tire recalls, require
electronic identification on all new tires, and update tire pressure monitoring standards, but regulations have not been issued.
Autonomous vehicles. NHTSA has taken on responsibility for overseeing the development and testing of autonomous
vehicles. Congress has not agreed on legislation that would provide NHTSA with new regulatory tools.
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Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1
Origins of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Regulation ............................................................. 2
Estimates of Effects of Federal Safety Standards ............................................................ 3
Increase in Pedestrian and Bicyclist Deaths Linked to More SUVs .................................... 5
Many Advanced Technologies Improve Vehicle Safety .................................................... 8
Vehicle Recalls and Defects ............................................................................................ 11
Takata Airbag Recal ................................................................................................ 13
Major Recent Recal s ............................................................................................... 14
Inspector General Report on Recal Process ................................................................. 15
Recal Completion Rates........................................................................................... 15

The 2015 FAST Act and Unresolved Issues ....................................................................... 17
Major Safety Provisions ........................................................................................... 17
Unresolved Safety Issues .......................................................................................... 18
Pending NTSB Recommendations ................................................................................... 20
Stretch Limousines .................................................................................................. 20
Motorcycles............................................................................................................ 21
Amphibious Passenger Vehicles ................................................................................. 21

Tires ...................................................................................................................... 22
Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Systems ....................................................................... 22

Autonomous and Connected Driving Systems ................................................................... 23
Congress Addresses Motor Vehicle Safety......................................................................... 25
The Moving Forward Act.......................................................................................... 25
NHTSA Appropriations ............................................................................................ 26

Figures
Figure 1. Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities and Fatality Rates .................................................. 6
Figure 2. Vehicle-Related Fatalities By Type ....................................................................... 7
Figure 3. Advanced Vehicle Technologies ......................................................................... 10
Figure 4. Motor Vehicle and Equipment Recal s................................................................. 12

Tables
Table 1. NHTSA Vehicle Safety Budget............................................................................ 27

Table A-1. Global Comparison of Road Traffic Fatalities..................................................... 29
Table B-1. Annual Recall Completion Rates by Major Vehicle Manufacturer.......................... 30

Appendixes
Appendix A. Road Traffic Fatalities Abroad ...................................................................... 29
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Appendix B. Recal Completion Rates.............................................................................. 30

Contacts
Author Information ....................................................................................................... 30

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Motor Vehicle Safety: Issues for Congress

Introduction
Congress enacted the first vehicle safety legislation even before the U.S. Department of
Transportation (DOT) and its vehicle-safety arm, the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA), were established more than 50 years ago. Since then, Congress has
delegated major regulatory responsibility to NHTSA while also directing it to give priority to
certain safety actions, such as mandating seat belt warning systems for the back seats of
passenger cars.1 In recent years, the periodic reauthorization of surface transportation programs
has included significant sections on motor vehicle safety. The Fixing America’s Surface
Transportation (FAST) Act,2 passed in 2015, included new initiatives to improve vehicle safety;
some congressional mandates made in that law have not been fully implemented.
The 116th Congress extended the authorization of federal surface transportation programs,
including vehicle safety programs, through September 30, 2021.3 No new legislation related to
vehicle safety was enacted. None was proposed by the agency during the Trump Administration.
During that period, NHTSA did not have a permanent administrator confirmed by the Senate, and
acting administrators managed its operations.
Responsibility for highway safety is divided between state and federal governments. While the
states manage driver and vehicle licensing, establish and enforce traffic laws, and build and
maintain highways, the federal government regulates the design of motor vehicles. NHTSA, an
agency within DOT, issues Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) and requires
manufacturers to recal and repair defects in vehicles that fail to meet those standards.
NHTSA’s enforcement of some of its vehicle safety standards is controversial, with its oversight
of recal s of passenger cars with defective airbags now in its fifth year. The airbag recal , the
largest on record, has come in for sharp criticism in Congress. In January 2021, six vehicle safety
organizations issued a report cal ing for major changes at NHTSA during the Biden
Administration, including significantly raising NHTSA’s budget and staffing, overhaul of its five-
star vehicle safety rating system, increased use of higher criminal penalties for known violation of
vehicle standards, a stronger focus on requiring new safety technologies on al vehicles, and
attention to unmet congressional safety mandates.4
In addition, NHTSA has taken on responsibility for overseeing the development and testing of
autonomous vehicles, though Congress has not agreed on legislation that would provide it new
regulatory tools.5 This report examines NHTSA’s role overseeing vehicle design and regulation
and highlights issues for Congress in the context of reauthorization.

1 Congress directed NHT SA to develop regulations that would require rear seat belt alerts in the Moving Ahead for
Progress in the 21st Century Act of 2012 (MAP -21; P.L. 112-141).
2 P.L. 114-94.
3 H.R. 8337, Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act (P.L. 116-159).
4 Center for Study of Responsive Law, 55th Anniversary of Unsafe at Any Speed, January 2021, at https://nader.org/wp-
content/uploads/2021/01/AutoSafetyReport2021.pdf. Other vehicle safety organizations participated in the
development of the report: the Center for Auto Safety, Consumer Federation of America, Advocates for H ighway and
Auto Safety, KidsandCars.org, and Automotive Safety Research Institute.
5 For a discussion of the issues associated with highly automated vehicles, see CRS Report R45985, Issues in
Autonom ous Vehicle Testing and Deploym ent
, by Bill Canis.
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Motor Vehicle Safety: Issues for Congress

Origins of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Regulation
In the early decades of the automobile, U.S. vehicles were lightly regulated by a combination of
state and private-sector standards. National regulation was general y not seen as appropriate; in
the early 1900s, according to two historians of auto safety, it was widely believed that “the only
useful and political y acceptable action Congress might take was to help the states and localities
construct more and better roads.”6 The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), a professional
association founded in 1905, became the primary source of vehicle safety standards for many
decades. State governments often used SAE recommendations to set their own standards for
vehicle brakes, headlamps, and windshield wipers.
A rising number of highway deaths prompted a new interest in vehicle safety: between 1962 and
1964, Congress passed three safety bil s into law, including a seat belt regulation.7 The new laws
were only a precursor to broader federal regulation. Two publications also spurred interest in a
greater federal role. Ralph Nader’s 1965 book, Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-in Dangers of
the American Automobile
, argued that cars were unnecessarily unsafe and that the auto industry
should be regulated by a federal agency.8 Also influential was Accidental Death and Disability:
The Neglected Disease of Modern Society
, a National Academy of Sciences report that
documented the impact of accidental injuries, including those by motor vehicles.9
Comprehensive vehicle safety legislation was passed in the form of the National Traffic and
Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966.10 As approved unanimously by both houses of Congress and
signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the legislation had two parts:
1. The Highway Safety Act of 1966 mandated that each state put in place a highway
safety program in accordance with federal standards to improve driver
performance, accident records systems, and traffic control.
2. The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 directed the Secretary
of Commerce (later changed to the Secretary of Transportation when that agency
was established in 1967) to issue safety standards for al motor vehicles
beginning in January 1967. A National Traffic Safety Agency was established to
carry out the provisions of the new law; it was renamed the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in 1970.11

6 Jerry Mashaw and David Harfst, The Struggle for Auto Safety (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990), pp.
30-31.
7 P.L. 87-637 required hydraulic brake fluid used in motor vehicles to meet certain stan dards established by the
Secretary of Commerce; P.L. 88-201 required the Secretary of Commerce to promulgate safety standards for seat belts;
and P.L. 88-514 required vehicle manufacturers to meet certain minimum safety standards for vehicles sold to the
General Services Administration (GSA) for the federal fleet.
8 Ralph Nader, Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-in Dangers of the American Automobile (New York: Grossman,
1965).
9 National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council, Accidental Death and Disability: The Neglected
Disease of Modern Society
, 1966, at https://www.ems.gov/pdf/1997-Reproduction-AccidentalDeathDissability.pdf.
10 P.L. 89-563. When he signed the law, President Johnson cited the 50,000 people killed on U.S. highways as the
biggest cause of death and injury among young Americans. T he White House, “Remarks of the President at Signing of
the Highway Safety Act and the T raffic Safety Act,” press release, September 9, 1966, cited in National Traffic and
Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, Legislative History
, vol. 1, p. 31, published by NHT SA in 1985.
11 Highway Safety Act of 1970, P.L. 91-605.
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Motor Vehicle Safety: Issues for Congress

Since its establishment, NHTSA has issued dozens of safety standards,12 including regulations
affecting windshield wipers, hood latches, tires, brakes, seat belts, and airbags.13 Proposing,
finalizing, or revising a NHTSA safety regulation can take many years, pursuant to the
Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 (APA).
NHTSA does not verify in advance that motor vehicles and parts comply with its standards.
Instead, the law requires self-certification: “[a] manufacturer or distributor of a motor vehicle or
motor vehicle equipment shal certify to the distributor or dealer at delivery that the vehicle or
equipment complies with applicable motor vehicle safety standards prescribed under this
chapter.... Certification of a vehicle must be shown by a label or tag permanently fixed to the
vehicle.... ”14 The self-certification label is affixed to the driver door jamb in al vehicles sold in
the United States.
Manufacturers are responsible for testing their vehicles and are liable for recal s and penalties if
they are later found not to meet FMVSS. After a new model goes on sale, NHTSA buys a
sampling from dealers and tests the vehicles at its own facilities to determine whether they
comply. It also receives consumer complaints about safety-related problems with vehicles. If
NHTSA determines there is noncompliance with its standards, it can encourage the manufacturer
to recal the model to correct the problem, or it can order a recal .15 NHTSA maintains a
comprehensive database about motor vehicle crashes to inform proposed standards and to identify
vehicles potential y requiring recal .16
Estimates of Effects of Federal Safety Standards
A NHTSA study estimated that passenger vehicle safety technologies associated with FMVSS
saved 613,501 lives between 1960 and 2012.17 The study evaluated the effects of 31 motor
vehicle technologies mandated by NHTSA, including front disc brakes, electronic stability
control, seat belts, airbags, and side door beams.18 It estimated that, taking account of rising
vehicle miles traveled (VMT), the risk of a fatality in 2012 was 56% lower than in 1960, based on
evaluation of the effectiveness of specific technologies in reducing occupant fatalities.19
The NHTSA report found seat belts, introduced in the late 1960s, to have been responsible for
more than half of al the lives saved, 329,715, and that their effectiveness rose sharply after
NHTSA required instal ation of combined lap and shoulder belts in place of simple lap belts in
1974.20 However, the study also highlighted the importance of other measures in addition to

12 T he authority for issuing standards is found in 49 U.S.C. §30111.
13 See https://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/rulemaking/pdf/FMVSS-QuickRefGuide-HS811439.pdf.
14 P.L. 89-563, 49 U.S.C. §30115.
15 NHT SA, Motor Vehicle Safety Defects and Recalls: What Every Vehicle Owner Should Know, at https://www-
odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/documents/MVDefectsandRecalls.pdf.
16 NHT SA’s data analysis and research are managed by its National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA) and
Office of Vehicle Safety Research, at https://www.nhtsa.gov/research-data; NHT SA maintains the Fatality Analysis
Reporting System (FARS), which records factors of fatal crashes such as location, time and circumstances of the crash,
type of vehicle, passengers involved, and vehicles’ movements leading to the crash.
17 T he study evaluated technologies in cars, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), pickup trucks, minivans, and full-size vans.
C. J. Kahane, Lives Saved by Vehicle Safety Technologies and Associated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards,
1960 to 2012
, NHT SA, DOT HS 812 069, January 2015.
18 Side door beams are anti-intrusion bars that protect passengers from side impacts.
19 C. J. Kahane, Lives Saved by Vehicle Safety Technologies and Associated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards,
1960 to 2012
, NHT SA, DOT HS 812 069, January 2015, p. xii.
20 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Injury Prevention & Control: Motor Vehicle Safety, viewed
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Motor Vehicle Safety: Issues for Congress

federal vehicle safety regulation: it estimated that the number of lives saved annual y by seat belts
rose from 800 to 6,000 after many states al owed police to issue tickets if a driver or passengers
were not wearing seat belts. Every state but New Hampshire has enacted laws requiring seat belt
use by adults.21
The full benefits of new federal safety standards may take many years to be felt. The passenger
vehicle fleet turns over slowly: the average age of light vehicles on the road in 2019 was 11.8
years, compared with 8.9 years in 2000.22 Although electronic stability control was introduced as
standard equipment on one make of vehicle in 1998 and was subsequently adopted on some other
makes, only 22% of light vehicles on the road were equipped with the technology in calendar
year 2012. FMVSS required electronic stability control to be included in al new vehicles starting
in model year 2012. The NHTSA study estimated that more than 1,362 lives may be saved
annual y when al vehicles on the road utilize the technology, but this wil not occur for a couple
of decades.
Several elements of traditional motor vehicle safety are being cal ed into question by recent data,
perspectives on earlier studies, and new technologies.
Safety goals have focused on making drivers and passengers safer inside vehicles, but recent
increases in traffic deaths outside the vehicle—of pedestrians and bicyclists—have raised
questions about the effectiveness of current highway safety policies and programs: in 2018, 34%
of highway fatalities were of those outside of vehicles, an increase from 20% in 2000.23
An often-cited statistic that “the major factor in 94% of al fatal crashes is human error”24 is
sometimes interpreted incorrectly to mean that nearly al crashes are due to driver error. The
extensive NHTSA survey from which these data are drawn—the National Motor Vehicle Crash
Causation Survey (NMVCCS)—does not draw that conclusion. That study, authorized by
Congress25 to better understand events leading up to motor vehicle crashes and assist in
developing and evaluating crash avoidance technologies, was conducted from 2005 to 2007,
collecting and analyzing data and events from nearly 7,000 light vehicle crashes.26 The
researchers evaluated data elements related to drivers, vehicles, highways, and the surrounding
environment of the crash sites, determining that of the crashes evaluated,
 36% involved vehicles that were turning or crossing intersections;
 22% involved a vehicle that ran off the edge of the road;

March 9, 2017, at https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/calculator/factsheet/seatbelt.html.
21 Other major technologies and the cumulative lives saved as identified in the NHT SA study were steering wheel
assemblies (79,989), frontal airbags (42,856), door locks (42,135) , and side impact protection (32,288). C. J. Kahane,
Lives Saved by Vehicle Safety Technologies and Associated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, 1960 to 2012 ,
NHT SA, DOT HS 812 069, January 2015.
22 Bureau of T ransportation Statistics, Average Age of Automobiles and Trucks in Operation in the United States, at
https://www.bts.gov/content/average-age-automobiles-and-trucks-operation-united-states.
23 NHT SA, Traffic Safety Facts 2000, p. 18.
24 Department of T ransportation, Automated Driving Systems 2.0: A vision for Safety, Introductory Message by DOT
Secretary Elaine Chao, September 2017, p. i,, at https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/documents/13069a-
ads2.0_090617_v9a_tag.pdf.
25 Section 2003(c), Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient T ransportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFET EA -
LU; P.L. 109-59).
26 Light vehicles include passenger cars, crossover vehicles, SUVs, and pickup trucks. NHT SA, National Motor
Vehicle Crash Causation Survey
, DOT HS 811 059, July 2008, at https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/
ViewPublication/811059.
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 11% involved a vehicle that did not stay in the proper lane;
 12% involved a stopped vehicle; and
 9% resulted when a driver lost control of a vehicle.
In a finding that qualifies the causes of vehicle crashes, the NHTSA researchers reported that the
investigated accidents typical y involve a causal chain of events that may be attributed to the
driver (distraction or speeding), the vehicle (tires, brakes or other malfunctions), the roadway
(poor design or wet road surfaces), or atmospheric conditions (rain, snow, sun glare).27 In a 2015
NHTSA report further analyzing the NMVCCS data, researchers noted that a “critical reason” for
the crashes in the survey “was assigned to the driver in an estimated 94% of the crashes,”28 but
that “the critical reason … is not intended to be interpreted as the cause of the crash. . ”29 The
2015 NHTSA report went further and stated that “in none of these cases was the assignment
intended to blame the driver for causing the crash.”30
This reading of the NMVCCS findings may cal into question forecasts that fully autonomous
vehicles could nearly eliminate fatalities, as NMVCCS findings would indicate that adverse
weather conditions, malfunctioning vehicle parts, and poor highway design wil remain factors in
motor vehicle fatalities even when fully autonomous vehicles are in use in the future.31
Increase in Pedestrian and Bicyclist Deaths Linked to More SUVs
Despite safety improvements over past decades, many drivers, passengers, and pedestrians are
kil ed annual y in motor vehicle accidents: in 2019, 36,096 fatalities occurred on U.S. roads.32
The number of annual fatalities from motor vehicle accidents has declined by 28% since the first
federal vehicle safety law was enacted in 1966. The downward trend was interrupted with fatality
increases from 2015 and 2016, but has resumed since 2017. It is thought that possible
explanations for the increase in fatalities in 2015-2016 included more driving because of lower
gasoline prices, speeding, alcohol- and drug-impaired driving, and driver distractions.33
When fatalities are viewed in the context of the expanded amount of driving that has taken place
in the past 50 years, however, the fatality rate has dropped by nearly 80%, from 5.50 deaths per
100 mil ion vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in 1966 to 1.10 deaths per 100 mil ion VMT in 2019
(Figure 1).34

27 Ibid., p. 10.
28 NHT SA, Critical Reasons for Crashes Investigated in the National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey , DOT HS
812 115, February 2015, at https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812115.
29 Ibid.
30 Ibid.
31 NHT SA is planning to develop a new crash causation survey to further examine the issues behind such accidents.
U.S. Department of T ransportation, Fiscal Year 2021: National Highway Traffic Safety Adm inistration , p. 69, at
https://www.transportation.gov/mission/budget/nhtsa-cj-fy-2021-estimates.
32 NHT SA, Traffic Safety Facts 2019, DOT HS 813 021, October 2020, at https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/
ViewPublication/813021.
33 Beckie Strum, “U.S. T raffic Fatalities Continued to Surge in First Half of 2016,” Wall Street Journal, August 23,
2016, at https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-traffic-fatalities-continued-to-surge-in-first-half-of-2016-1471967127.
34 Vehicles Miles T raveled is a transportation term that estimates the number of miles traveled by all vehicles nationally
in a one-year period. In 1966, when the fatality rate was at 5.50 per 100 million VMT , the nation’s total vehicle miles
traveled were 925 billion. In 2019, when the fatality rate had dropped to 1.10 per million VMT , total miles traveled had
risen to more than 3.2 trillion. NHT SA, 2018 Traffic Safety Facts, DOT HS 812 826, October 2019, p. 2, at
https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812826 and Federal Highway Administration, Traffic
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Motor Vehicle Safety: Issues for Congress

Figure 1. Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities and Fatality Rates

Source: (NHTSA, Trends, Table 2, Persons Kil ed and Fatality Rates, 1966-2017, at https://cdan.nhtsa.gov/tsftables/
tsfar.htm#. Data for 2018 and 2019 from NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts, DOT HS 812 826, October 2019, and
Traffic Safety Facts, DOT HS 813 021, October 2020.
Note: VMT refers to Vehicle Miles Traveled.
Among other major countries, U.S. traffic fatalities are higher than most other developed
countries, but below the global average (see an excerpt from the 2018 World Health Organization
(WHO) report in Appendix A). The WHO asserts that the development and enforcement of
vehicle safety standards are important components of any country’s strategy for reducing motor
vehicle-related fatalities, yet only 40 countries—the United States is not among that group—have
implemented most of the United Nations priority vehicle safety standards.35 WHO data suggest
that the developed countries with the lowest fatality rates are those that have adopted more of the
UN vehicle standards.36 According to the WHO, “Vehicle safety is increasingly critical to the
prevention of crashes and has been shown to contribute to substantial reductions in the number of
deaths and serious injuries on the roads. Features such as electronic stability control and advanced
braking are examples of vehicle safety standards that can prevent a crash from occurring.…”37

Volum e Trends, “ Moving 12-Month T otal on All U.S Roads,” September 2020, at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/
policyinformation/travel_monitoring/20septvt/#:~:text=September%202020%20Traffic%20Volume%20T rends&text=
T ravel%20for%20the%20month%20is,miles)%20decline%20from%20September%202019.
35 T he priority UN vehicle safety standards call for countries to establish rules on frontal and side impact protection;
electronic stability control; pedestrian front protection; seat belts and anchorages; child restraints; and motorcycle
antilock braking systems. T he priorities are developed by the United Nations World Forum for Harmonization of
Vehicle Regulations, part of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE); see https://www.unece.org/trans/
main/wp29/meeting_docs_wp29.html.
36 Among the countries with lower fatality rates that were shown to have adopted at least four of the UN vehi cle
standards were Australia, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
37 World Health Organization, Global Status Report on Road Safety, 2018, p. 58, at https://www.who.int/publications-
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Motor Vehicle Safety: Issues for Congress

Nearly two-thirds of U.S. vehicle fatalities in 2019 were occupants of passenger cars and light
trucks, with the remainder being occupants of large trucks, buses, or motorcycles; pedestrians; or
bicyclists (Figure 2). Pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities dropped by nearly 3% to 7,338 in 2019
after having risen by 3.4% and 6.3%, respectively, in 2018, reaching the highest levels since
1990.38 The popularity of larger vehicles, such as sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and large pickup
trucks, may be a factor in the increasing numbers of pedestrian and bicyclist deaths; the
Governors Highway Safety Association has noted that the number of pedestrian fatalities
involving SUVs increased 50% from 2013 to 2017, while the number involving passenger cars
increased 30%.39 Initial data for 2020 indicate that speeding violations, traffic fatalities, and
injuries increased in many states despite stay-at-home orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This pattern differs from past recessions, when fatality rates declined with traffic volume.40
Figure 2. Vehicle-Related Fatalities By Type

Source: NHTSA, 2019 Traffic Safety Facts, DOT HS 813 021, October 2020.
Notes: Light trucks include most crossovers, SUVs, and al pickup trucks. Figures have been rounded.
An April 2020 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) sheds additional light on
the role larger vehicles—in particular SUVs—may play in rising pedestrian fatalities.41 GAO
analyzed a decade of data (from 2008 through 2018) in three NHTSA crash and accident
databases, finding that the number of fatalities in accidents involving SUVs increased by 68%

detail/global-status-report -on-road-safety-2018.
38 In 2018, 6,283 pedestrians and 857 bicyclists were killed in motor vehicle-related accidents. Ibid., p. 3.
39 Governors Highway Safety Association, Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State: 2018 Preliminary Data, February
2019, p. 4.
40 Marshall W. Meyer, “COVID Lockdowns, Social Distancing, and Fatal Car Crashes: More Deaths on Hobbesian
Highways?,” PubMed Central, U.S. National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, December 21, 2020, at
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7751747/.
41 U.S. Government Accountability Office, Pedestrian Safety, GAO-20-419, April 23, 2020, at https://www.gao.gov/
products/GAO-20-419.
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during the decade studied, the number involving light trucks by 25%, and the number involving
passenger cars by 47%.42 GAO found that there were more pedestrian fatalities involving SUVs
because (1) more SUVs are on the road than in the past and (2) pedestrians struck by bigger
vehicles with greater mass are more likely to experience serious injuries or fatalities.43
Technologies exist that could reduce the number of pedestrian fatalities. In evaluating data
provided from 13 automakers, GAO found that 62% of new model year 2019 vehicles had some
type of pedestrian crash mitigation system. GAO recommended that NHTSA (a) expand a current
pilot program that collects data on the type and severity of pedestrian injuries; (b) include
pedestrian safety tests in its five-star New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) safety rating
program,44 a step that could increase automaker use of those technologies on more vehicles; and
(c) clarify its process for updating its safety ratings.45
A 2018 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) also associated the greater
number of SUVs on the road with increased pedestrian deaths and injuries. IIHS found that
improving vehicle headlights and equipping more vehicles with pedestrian detection systems
could reduce the number of pedestrian fatalities. It also recommended changing the front-end
design of SUVs so they are less likely to strike pedestrians in the head or chest.46 In a separate
study, IIHS found that smal er vehicles have higher driver death rates, while drivers of some
SUVs have the lowest death rates.47
Many Advanced Technologies Improve Vehicle Safety
In the past decade, the use of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) has improved vehicle
safety and passenger mobility by warning drivers of potential y dangerous situations, such as
another vehicle braking ahead of them, and in some instances, by taking control of the vehicle to
prevent an accident. A Consumer Reports survey among drivers—with data on 72,000 vehicles—
found that 57% reported that “at least one advanced driver assist feature in their vehicle had kept
them from getting into a crash.”48
IIHS and its affiliated Highway Loss Data Institute documented the effects of some crash
avoidance technologies by comparing actual crashes of vehicles with and without ADAS. In the
2019 IIHS/HDLI study, the authors found that vehicles with forward collision warning
experienced 27% fewer front-to-rear crashes, and when that technology was combined with
automatic braking, 50% fewer crashes were experienced. Lane departure warning, blind spot
detection, and rearview cameras each contributed to lower crash rates.49

42 Other factors contributing to the higher fatalities included older vehicles and higher vehicle speeds. Ibid., p. 13.
43 Ibid., p. 16.
44 T he 5-star safety rating program, formally known as the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), has since 1978
provided consumers with information on each vehicle’s safety performance based on a series of crash scenario tests
conducted by NHT SA. NCAP was authorized by Congress in the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act of
1973 (P.L. 92-513).
45 U.S. Government Accountability Office, Pedestrian Safety, GAO-20-419, April 23, 2020, pp. 39-40.
46 “On foot, at risk,” IIHS Status Report, Vol. 53, No. 3, May 8, 2018, at https://www.iihs.org/api/datastoredocument/
status-report/pdf/53/3.
47 IIHS, Driver death rates remain high among small cars, May 28, 2020, at https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/driver-
death-rates-remain-high-among-small-cars.
48 Mike Monticello, Car Safety Systems That Could Save Your Life, Consumer Reports, June 25, 2019, at
https://www.consumerreports.org/automotive-technology/car-safety-systems-that-could-save-your-life/.
49 Institute for Highway Safety and Highway Loss Data Institute, Real-world benefits of crash avoidance technologies,
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Figure 3 shows many of the technologies currently used on passenger motor vehicles; some are
based on NHTSA standards, such as airbags, tire pressure monitors, and rearview cameras, while
others are not at this time. The technologies include the following:
Electronic stability control limits wheel spinning during acceleration and keeps
the vehicle on the driver’s intended path.
Automatic emergency braking detects a sudden effort to stop the vehicle,
automatical y applying additional force to the brakes if needed to prevent an
imminent crash.
Seat belt pretensioners employ a sensor to detect abrupt deceleration of an
impending accident, forcing a concealed piston to quickly remove any slack in
front-seat seat belts to hold drivers and passengers firmly in their seats, thereby
providing maximum airbag protection.
Forward collision warning uses cameras, radar, and lasers to search for cars
ahead of a vehicle and alerts drivers if a crash may be imminent, using audible
signals or a vibrating driver’s seat to alert the driver. A similar system is available
to detect pedestrians in a vehicle’s path.
Blind spot warning devices are built into external side vehicle mirrors; using
radar or cameras, they light up when a motorist seeks to change lanes and another
vehicle is in the driver’s blind spot.
Lane departure warning systems monitor roadway lane markings and send
audible or vibrating signals to the driver if the vehicle leaves the lane, unless a
turn signal is activated. Research has indicated that drivers who fal asleep, suffer
a medical emergency, or black out from drug or alcohol use are most likely to
leave intended lanes.50
Adaptive lighting is a safety system designed for the driver to see better at night
without affecting other drivers, using a camera under the rearview mirror to
detect oncoming traffic and curves in the road, automatical y adjusting
headlights. FMVSS do not al ow adaptive headlights.
Since there are no universal standards for some of these technologies, they may have different
names among manufacturers and different capabilities. Consumer Reports has suggested that
automakers, regulators, and safety groups develop an “accurate naming convention” so that
consumers wil better understand what these relatively new systems do.51
Many of these newer ADAS technologies are not mandated by Congress or NHTSA; they often
appear first on luxury vehicles because of their high initial costs.52 NHTSA’s position has been
that to develop standards for rapidly changing technologies could impede innovation and result
ultimately in outmoded standards, which could then take years to revise. Delays in issuing or
updating standards can be caused by opposition to some of the proposals by industry or

June 2019, at https://www.iihs.org/media/259e5bbd-f859-42a7-bd54-3888f7a2d3ef/e9boUQ/T opics/
ADVANCED%20DRIVER%20ASSI ST ANCE/IIHS-real- world-CA- benefits.pdf.
50 IIHS, Drivers who drift from lane and crash often dozing or ill, September 1, 2016, at https://www.iihs.org/news/
detail/drivers-who-drift-from-lane-and-crash-often-dozing-or-ill.
51 David Friedman, Jake Fisher, and Kelly Funkhouser, et al., “A Consumer Reports Initiative to End Confusion About
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems,” Consum er Reports, October 25, 2018, at https://advocacy.consumerreports.org/
research/advanced-driver-assistance-systems-standard-nomenclature/.
52 H.R. 2, as passed by the House in the 116th Congress but not enacted, would have required NHT SA to establish
federal standards for many of these crash avoidance technologies.
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consumers or by inaction by regulators. In addition, the lengthy period for standard setting is
affected by the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946, which ensures that a
proposed rulemaking is publicized in the Federal Register, that public comments are evaluated by
the regulatory agency, and then that decisions that are made are clearly explained in another
Federal Register notice.
Figure 3. Advanced Vehicle Technologies

Source: CRS.
To speed the application of one new technology, NHTSA developed a voluntary agreement with
20 automakers in 2016 to instal automatic emergency braking systems on nearly al new
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passenger vehicles by 2022, a pace of application that NHTSA’s then-administrator said could
not have been met with a traditional standards-setting regulation. Under the agreement,
automakers report annual y on their progress: the latest reporting period (for 2019) showed that
12 manufacturers had equipped more than 75% of their vehicles with the systems.
With more than 260 mil ion vehicles on U.S. roads, the life-saving value of new technologies wil
be limited until most cars in use, not just new ones, are equipped with them. The Highway Loss
Data Institute reported in 2019 that “carmakers are making vehicles more crashworthy about 3
times faster today than they did in the mid-1990s, but those improvements and new safety
features stil take decades to filter into most vehicles on the road.”53
Vehicle Recalls and Defects
In addition to promulgating and enforcing vehicle safety standards, NHTSA investigates vehicle
defects that affect safety. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) initiates defect
investigations and reviews complaints of al eged defects from vehicle owners, automakers, and
other sources. There are several routes a potential recal complaint can take:
Denial. When NHTSA’s analysis of petitions cal ing for defect investigations
leads the agency to decide not to proceed, it publicizes the reasons for the denial
in the Federal Register.
Further review. If NHTSA opens an investigation of al eged safety-related
defects, the investigation concludes with either a recommendation that the
manufacturer recal the vehicle or a determination that there is no safety-related
defect.
If a safety defect is confirmed by NHTSA, the manufacturer may initiate a recal ; if the
manufacturer fails to do so, NHTSA can initiate a recal itself. In addition to the NHTSA
investigative process, manufacturers conduct their own internal investigations; if a manufacturer
finds that a vehicle or component does not comply with a federal safety standard, it may issue its
own recal to correct a safety defect before accidents are reported. Of the 966 recal s issued in
2019, 57 were issued by manufacturers influenced by a NHTSA finding, and 909 were issued
based on a manufacturer’s finding alone.54 The law establishing the motor vehicle safety program
requires that a manufacturer of a defective vehicle or component notify the vehicle owner and fix
the defect without charge.55


53 “Automakers accelerate push to make vehicles safer,” Status Report, December 16, 2019, pp. 4-5, at
https://www.iihs.org/api/datastoredocument/status-report/pdf/54/7.
54 NHT SA, 2016 Annual Recall Report.
55 Remedies for Defects and Compliance, 49 U.S.C. §30120.
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How Consumers Can Report Defects and Check on Recalls
Increasing the reporting of defects and enabling consumers to know about current recal s is an important part of
NHTSA’s public education program to ensure that more vehicles that need repairs are actual y fixed. Vehicle
owners and buyers often want to know how to check on recal s or how to report defects. NHTSA encourages
car owners to report vehicle defects, as knowledge of what consumers are experiencing is one way a recal may
be determined. Consumers can report defects by telephone tol -free (1-888-327-4236 or 1-800-424-9393; a
Spanish-speaking line is available at 1-800-424-9153); on the website http://www.safercar.gov, using the “select a
complaint” feature; or by U.S. mail:
U.S. Department of Transportation
NHTSA, Office of Defects Investigation (NVS-210)
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
Consumers can also check on whether their vehicles have been subject to a recal by visiting
http://www.nhtsa.gov/recal s and using the 17-character Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) that is unique to each
car. A VIN can be found in the lower left of the car’s windshield (on the driver’s side), and on the driver’s side
door jamb near the seat; it is also located on a state vehicle registration card.

The annual number of recal actions rose 81% between 2009 and 2016, but has fluctuated in a
narrow range since 2016. The number of vehicles and items of equipment recal ed rose steeply
between 2013 and 2015, but then fel through 2018 (see Figure 4). There are several reasons the
number of recal s is higher than in earlier years, including stricter laws, larger fines, delayed
detection by NHTSA of vehicle problems, and several recent high-visibility cases affecting
mil ions of vehicles.
Figure 4. Motor Vehicle and Equipment Recalls

Source: NHTSA, 2019 Annual Recal Report, covering years 2000-2019.
Notes: Data include recal s of motor vehicles, motor vehicle parts, tires, and child safety seats. Nearly al of the
recal s in 2019 were of vehicles—39 mil ion—and parts—14 mil ion.
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Takata Airbag Recall
The spike in the number of vehicles and equipment recal ed from 2013 to 2017 is due in large
part to the recal of more than 67 mil ion defective airbags manufactured by parts supplier Takata,
making it the largest-ever automotive recal .56 To date there have been 18 confirmed deaths—two
as recently as summer 2020 in Arizona—and more than 400 injuries attributable to Takata airbag
defects.57 In 2014, NHTSA opened a formal investigation into defective airbags that, when
deployed in a crash, could shower metal fragments into front-seat vehicle occupants, often with
fatal consequences. In 2015, Takata and NHTSA entered into a consent order requiring Takata to
submit a plan to maximize recal completion rates.58 During its investigation, NHTSA found that
Takata had not notified it of defects in a timely or accurate way. Takata agreed to retain, at its
expense, an independent monitor to assess compliance with the consent order. In addition, the
U.S. Department of Justice took legal action against Takata, leading to Takata pleading guilty in
2017 to criminal charges and agreeing to a $1 bil ion settlement.59
Although about 50 mil ion airbags have been replaced since the defect was detected, an estimated
11 mil ion vehicles with the recal ed airbags remain on the road.60 Airbag recal s continue: for
example, in November 2020, General Motors recal ed 5.9 mil ion Cadil ac, Chevrolet, and GMC
pickup trucks and SUVs for model years 2007 to 2014,61 and in January 2021, Ford announced
the recal of 3 mil ion vehicles for model years 2006 to 2012.62 The independent monitor’s fourth
report notes that the completion rate for this recal is 79%, and has “far outpaced those for other
automotive recal s of older vehicles.”63 The December 2020 report outlines innovative recal
strategies that have led to the replacement of so many airbags. These strategies may be useful in
raising the completion rates for other recal s in the future. Among the innovative methods of
reaching vehicle owners in the Takata recal ,
 manufacturers used multiple sources of vehicle owner information that was
updated frequently;
 the defect was explained to owners in simple, concise, and urgent terms, rather
than technical y;
 multiple languages other than English were used when appropriate;

56 NHT SA, T akata Recall Spotlight, at https://www.nhtsa.gov/equipment/takata-recall-spotlight, viewed on May 7,
2020.
57 Independent Monitor of T akata and the Coordinated Remedy Program, Update on the State of the Takata Airbag
Recalls
, December 22, 2020, p. 2, at https://www.nhtsa.gov/takata-recall-spotlight/state-takata-air-bag-recalls-fourth-
report .
58 NHT SA Consent Order In re: EA 15-001 Air Bag Inflator Rupture, November 2, 2015, at https://www.nhtsa.gov/
sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/documents/nhtsa-consentorder-takata.pdf.
59 U.S. Department of Justice, “T akata Corporation Pleads Guilty, Sentenced to Pay $1 Billion in Criminal Penalties for
Air Bag Scheme,” press release, February 27, 2017, at https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/takata-corporation-pleads-guilty-
sentenced-pay-1-billion-criminal-penalties-airbag-scheme.
60 Independent Monitor of T akata and the Coordinated Remedy Program , Update on the State of the Takata Airbag
Recalls
, December 22, 2020, p. 35.
61 Keith Barry, “GM Recalls 5.9 Million T rucks, SUVs for Faulty T akata Airbags,” Consumer Reports, November 25,
2020, at https://www.consumerreports.org/car-recalls-defects/gm-recalls-trucks-suvs-for-faulty-takata-airbags/.
62 David Shepardson, “U.S. agency orders Ford to recall 3 million vehicles over air bags,” Reuters, January 19, 2021, at
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ford-recall/u-s-agency-orders-ford-to-recall-3-million-vehicles-over-air-bags-
idUSKBN29O2IO?il=0.
63 Independent Monitor of T akata and the Coordinated Remedy Program, Update on the State of the Takata Airbag
Recalls
, December 22, 2020, p. 2.
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 auto dealers were given incentives to encourage their participation and outreach
for repairing airbags; and
 mobile repair was offered to shorten repair time and replace the airbags at an
owner’s residence or workplace.64
Major Recent Recalls
Aside from the ongoing Takata recal s, major recal s in the past two years included the following.
In 2020,
 1.4 mil ion Hondas, including model years 2002-2020, recal ed for drive shafts
that can corrode and break, window switches that can overheat, and software
flaws that can cause rear cameras, turn signals, and windshield wipers to
malfunction;65
 600,000 Kia Optima and Hyundai Santa Fe Sports, for model years 2013-2015,
recal ed because of engine compartment fire risks;66
 620,000 Ford vehicles, including Escape, Explorer, F-150 truck, and Mustang,
model year 2020, for malfunctioning rear view cameras that can leave a blank
screen or distorted image;67 and
 158,000 Tesla Models S and X, model years 2012-2018, recommended for recal
because the dashboard touchscreen can fail after a few years of use when the
memory chip runs out of storage capacity.68
In 2019,69
 3.5 mil ion Cadil ac, Chevrolet, and GMC SUVs and pickup trucks, model years
2014-2018, recal ed for a faulty vacuum pump that required reprograming of the
electronic brake control module;
 1.3 mil ion Subaru cars and SUVs, model years 2008-2017, requiring a new
brake light switch to replace one prone to malfunction;
 1.2 mil ion Nissan and Infiniti cars and trucks, model years 2018-2019, requiring
a software update to ensure that their backup cameras worked properly;

64 Ibid., pp.4-12.
65 Laura Sky Brown, “Honda Recalls 1.4 Million Vehicles, Including 430k for Salt Corrosion Problem,” Car and
Driver
, December 16, 2020, at https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a34990029/honda-civic-fit-accord-acura-ilx-
driveshaft -recall/.
66 Jake Lingeman, “Kia, Hyundai Recall 600,000 Vehicles for Fire Risk,” Autoweek, September 7, 2020, at
https://www.autoweek.com/news/industry-news/a33926842/kia-hyundai-recall-600000-vehicles-for-fire-risk/.
67 Laura Sky Brown, “Ford Recalls More T han 600,000 Vehicles over Rearview Cameras,” Car and Driver, September
30, 2020, at https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a34226541/ford-rearview-camera-recall/.
68 Rebecca Elliott and Ben Foldy, “Car-Safety Regulators Urge T esla to Recall Around 158,000 Vehicles,” Wall Street
Journal
, January 13, 2021, at https://www.wsj.com/articles/car-safety-regulators-urge-tesla-to-recall-around-158-000-
vehicles-11610582727.
69 Patrick Masterson, “The 10 Biggest Recalls in 2019,” cars.com, January 14, 2020, at https://www.cars.com/articles/
the-10-biggest-recalls-in-2019-416480.
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 1.2 mil ion Ford Explorers, model years 2011-2017, requiring replacement of
part of the rear suspension so that the rear wheels remain pointed in the right
direction;
 928,000 Toyota, Scion, and Lexus vehicles, model years 2003-2017, requiring
airbag assembly replacements; and
 863,000 Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep vehicles, model years 2011-2016, with faulty
catalytic converters, affecting their emission controls.
A recent private study concluded that a significant trend has been the increase in software defects,
noting that “with the emergence of advanced driver assistance systems, connected vehicles,
vehicle-to-vehicle, and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, this wil be an important area for
manufacturers and suppliers to focus on.. . ”70
Inspector General Report on Recall Process
The Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General (OIG) was required by the
FAST Act to audit NHTSA’s recal process based on its handling of the Takata airbag recal . Its
2018 report, which included six recommendations,71 found a number of shortcomings.
Specifical y, the OIG found that NHTSA’s monitoring process for light vehicle recal s did not
ensure that remedies were fully reported and that it did not verify recal completion rates or notify
manufacturers of missing information, making it difficult to assess the adequacy of a
manufacturer’s recal campaign. The OIG later said NHTSA had addressed its
recommendations.72
In a separate report, issued in 2015, the OIG criticized NHTSA’s methods of collecting vehicle
safety data and reviewing complaints, recommending 17 improvements.73 In the FAST Act,
Congress conditioned the agency’s funding authorization on the resolution of the 17 OIG
recommendations.74 The OIG notified Congress on September 30, 2016, that NHTSA had
addressed the 17 issues raised in its report.
Recall Completion Rates
Vehicle owners do not always bring their vehicles to a dealer when a recal is announced,
resulting in many unrepaired vehicles on the road with safety-related defects. Consumers may not
open a recal notice in the mail, may find it difficult to schedule a free repair, may think the recal
is not important enough for a response, or may have sold the vehicle. Sometimes, as with the
Takata airbag recal , the manufacturer does not have enough repair parts available at the time
recal notices are sent out, and vehicle owners may lose interest during an extended delay. A goal
of the FAST Act was to increase the number of vehicles repaired through the recal process.

70 Stout Risius Ross LLC, 2019 Automotive Defect & Recall Report, October 14, 2019, pp. 18-19, at
https://www.stout.com/en/insights/report/2019-automotive-defect-and-recall-report.
71 DOT Office of Inspector General, NHTSA’s Management of Light Passenger Vehicle Recalls Lacks Adequate
Processes and Oversight
, ST 2018062, July 18, 2018, pp. 27 -28, at https://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/default/files/
NHT SA%20Auto%20Recalls%20Final%20Report%5E07 -18-18.pdf.
72 CRS conversation and email with Office of Inspector General at DOT .
73 DOT Office of Inspector General, Inadequate Data and Analysis Undermine NHTSA’s Efforts to Identify and
Investigate Vehicle Safety Concerns
, ST -2015-063, June 18, 2015, at https://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/default/files/
NHT SA%20Safety-Related%20Vehicle%20Defects%20-%20Final%20Report%5E6-18-15.pdf.
74 P.L. 114-94, §§24101 and 24102.
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The FAST Act required NHTSA to conduct an analysis of vehicle recal completion rates and
submit a report to Congress. NHTSA completed that review, based on recal s issued between
2010 and 2014, and submitted its report in May 2017.75 NHTSA evaluated annual completion
rates
rather than average completion rates because the former reflects the number of vehicles
affected.76 NHTSA researchers found that the combined annual completion rate for al
automakers subject to a recal in those years was 67%, “meaning that 67% of al vehicles recal ed
were remedied.”77 Individual automakers’ results varied, with Tesla having the highest annual
completion rate, 100%, in 2010 and Mercedes-Benz having the lowest, 33%, in 2011. Results for
major automakers are shown in Table B-1.
The NHTSA report’s findings are relevant to congressional efforts to boost recal completion
rates:
The older the vehicle on the date of a recall, the less likely the defect will be
repaired. Cars one to three years old at the time of recal had a repair average of
80%, while cars more than six years old had a 56% rate. NHTSA speculated that
owners of newer cars stil under warranty may be more inclined to return them to
the dealer for a recal .78 This observation appears in other recent recal studies.79
Vehicle parts recall completions differ by type of components. It appears that
vehicle owners are more likely to respond to recal s for certain types of parts,
such as tires, powertrain, and seat belts (al above 70% completion) than to
lighting and suspension recal s (under 60%).
Larger recalls underperform smaller recalls. NHTSA compared the average
completion rate—81% for the major automakers—with the annual completion
rate for the same group, which was 67%. The researchers concluded that “recal s
that cover more vehicles are underperforming compared to smal er recal s;
otherwise the unweighted average would more closely resemble the percentage
of vehicles actual y remedied.”80
To the extent that recal s deal with software issues in a vehicle, novel remedies available for that
category may facilitate higher recal completion rates. Software remedies could include over-the-
air solutions that are pushed out to al vehicle owners over wireless networks; alternatively,
vehicle owners could download a software correction from a manufacturer’s (or NHTSA’s)
website onto their vehicle’s USB port.81

75 NHT SA, Report to Congress: Vehicle Safety Recall Completion Rates Report, May 2017, at https://www.nhtsa.gov/
sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/documents/13376-recall_completion_rates_rtc-tag_final.pdf.
76 As an example, the report notes that BMW’s 2014 annual completion rate was 42% because it fixed 42% of the
vehicles it recalled that year. Its average completion rate was 87% because of several smaller recalls that year that had
higher completion rates. One large BMW recall had a relatively low completion rat e, bringing down the annual rate.
Ibid., p. 6.
77 Ibid., p. 11.
78 Ibid., p. 13.
79 Stout, Risius Ross LLC, 2019 Automotive Defect & Recall Report, October 14, 2019, pp. 10-11.
80 NHT SA, Report to Congress: Vehicle Safety Recall Completion Rates Report, May 2017, p. 12.
81 Stout Risius Ross LLC, 2019 Automotive Defect & Recall Report, October 14, 2019, p. 65.
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The 2015 FAST Act and Unresolved Issues
Major Safety Provisions
Congress last enacted comprehensive vehicle safety legislation as part of the most recent surface
transportation reauthorization, the FAST Act of 2015. Among the safety provisions it included
were the following:
Recall compliance for rental cars and new notice requirement for auto
dealers. The FAST Act required rental car companies for the first time to repair
vehicles subject to recal s before renting, leasing, or sel ing them. Motor vehicle
dealers were also required to notify vehicle owners when there is an open recal
on a vehicle brought in for servicing.
Types of consumer communications. The FAST Act required NHTSA to issue a
rule requiring manufacturers to use email, social media, and targeted online
campaigns to notify vehicle owners of recal s, in addition to first-class mail.82
The law required DOT to initiate a two-year pilot grant program with six states to
evaluate the feasibility of using states’ motor vehicle registration process to
inform consumers of open recal s on their vehicles.83
Recall compliance period. Previous law required that a defect triggering a recal
be repaired free of charge for up to 10 years after a recal ; the FAST Act extended
this protection to 15 years.
Driver privacy. The Driver Privacy Act of 2015, included in the FAST Act,
specifies that data retained by an event data recorder (EDR) is the property of the
vehicle owner. EDRs capture data about the driver and the vehicle, such as seat
belt use and speed, in the five seconds before a crash. The Driver Privacy Act
does not address the ownership of data collected in a vehicle at other times.
Improved databases. NHTSA was directed to revise its existing crash
investigation database to include specific information about child restraint
systems utilized at the time of vehicle crashes. In addition, it was required to
establish a publicly searchable database of tire recal s.
Civil penalties. With the goal of encouraging automakers to more readily
disclose potential defects that could lead to a recal , the statutory civil penalty cap
for each violation of the law was raised from a maximum of $35 mil ion to $105
mil ion.84

82 A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was issued in 2016; a comment period ended in October 2016. No final rule has
been issued. Department of T ransportation, Report on DOT Significant Rulem akings, February 2020, p. 68, at
https://www.transportation.gov/regulations/report-on-significant -rulemakings.
83 Initially, one state—Maryland—responded to this grant program, beginning a pilot that lasted from April 2018 until
January 2020. NHT SA reported that in that pilot, 456,000 vehicles were identified with 943,000 open recalls. Of those,
371,000 individual recalls were repaired; nearly a third of the repairs involved airbags. In May 2020, NHT SA
announced it was seeking additional states to participate in the grant program. NHTSA, “NHT SA Announces Grant
Program to Help States Inform Vehicle Owners About Safety Recalls,” press release, May 7, 2020, at
https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/safety-recalls-grant -program.
84 NHT SA, “Notice of Increase in Civil Penalty for Violations of National T raffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act,” 81
Federal Register
15413, March 22, 2016.
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Whistleblower incentives. The FAST Act included the Motor Vehicle Safety
Whistleblower Act, which provides financial rewards to employees of motor
vehicle and parts manufacturers, contractors, and automobile dealers who report
vehicle defects to NHTSA. The law directed NHTSA to issue regulations
implementing the whistleblower process by 2017. In fal 2020, NHTSA stated
that it hoped to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in March 2021.85
Unresolved Safety Issues
Recent surface transportation laws—the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act of
2012 (MAP-21)86 and the FAST Act—have directed NHTSA to study and report on safety-related
issues, while requiring the agency to begin rulemakings on others. Many of these issues remain
unresolved (unless otherwise noted).
Recalls. DOT’s inspector general was required to conduct an audit of vehicle
recal management.87 NHTSA was required to assess the effectiveness of the
rental car recal process, report on the findings of the state motor vehicle pilot,
and evaluate the feasibility of requiring instal ation of a technical system in new
cars that would alert motorists to open recal s.
Crash data recordings. A report was required assessing how long an event data
recorder (EDR) should capture data preceding a crash, with an ensuing regulation
to establish a revised data recording period.88 NHTSA began a rulemaking in
2018 to update the current pre-crash recording duration; a proposed rule is
anticipated in February 2021.89
Child occupant crash data. A report analyzing these data was required. A
rulemaking was completed in 2014, but a new rule may be issued in 2021.90
NHTSA agenda. NHTSA is required to submit annual y a report that details its
projected priorities and initiatives for the year ahead.91
Tire identification. A feasibility study was required about providing electronic
identification of vehicle tires. NHTSA submitted a report to Congress in March
2019, concluding that it is technological y feasible for manufacturers to include

85 Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Agency Rule List,
Department of T ransportation, December 9, 2020, at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=
202010&RIN=2127-AL85.
86 P.L. 112-141.
87 Completed in 2018.
88 Secretary of T ransportation Elaine Chao submitted a report to congressional committees on September 21, 2018,
showing that the current five-second minimum recording requirement does not capture all steps that a driver takes to
avoid a crash, and suggests that a 20-second recording prior to a crash would provide better data for analysis. T his
report is not available on the NHT SA website.
89 OMB, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Agency Rule List, Department of T ransportation, December 9,
2020, at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202010&RIN=2127-AM12.
90 OMB, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Agency Rule List, Department of T ransportation, December 9,
2020, at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202004&RIN=2127-AK95.
91 T he most recent report on NHT SA’s planned activities, for 2020, was issued on March 4, 2020, at
https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/documents/nhtsa_agenda_report_to_congress_03042020.pdf.
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an electronic-based identification in al new tires, subject to NHTSA possibly
developing a standard for use of that technology.92
Among the new rulemakings required in the FAST Act are the following:
Motor vehicle tires. NHTSA was required to update the existing standard for tire
pressure monitoring; promulgate a new rule for tire fuel efficiency performance;
and initiate a rulemaking to require independent tire sel ers—not affiliated with a
manufacturer—to maintain records of tire purchasers. Of these three required
rulemakings, NHTSA has said only that it is considering issuing a rule for the
fuel efficiency performance standard.93
Manufacturers’ safety records. Automakers had been required to retain
information on their vehicles’ safety records for five years; the FAST Act doubled
the holding period to 10 years to account for defects or safety issues that develop
as vehicles age. NHTSA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in May
2019. The comment period ended in July 2019, but a final rule has not been
issued.94
Special rules for low-volume manufacturers of replica vehicles. DOT and the
Environmental Protection Agency were required to establish, within a year of the
enactment of the FAST Act, a separate regulatory process for limited-production
vehicles that may not meet some federal safety and emission standards, such as
replicas of older-model vehicles.95 NHTSA issued a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking on January 7, 2020. The comment period closed on February 6,
2020, and NHTSA is reviewing the comments.96
Several rules mandated in MAP-21 also remain to be finalized:
Crash protection and anchorage standards for child restraint systems.
NHTSA was required to finalize rules that would improve the protection of
children using child restraint systems governed by FMVSS 213 and 225;
statutory deadlines were 2014 and 2015, respectively. If NHTSA determined that
it would not issue a revised anchorage standard, MAP-21 required a report to be
submitted to Congress. Notices of Proposed Rulemaking were issued in 2014 for
amending both standards, but final rules have not been issued. NHTSA has not
submitted the report to Congress.97

92 NHT SA, Electronic Tire Identification Study, March 2019, p. 28, at https://www.safetyresearch.net/Library/18-
3053%20Elec%20tire%20id%20study-3.pdf.
93 OMB, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Agency Rule List, Department of T ransportation, December 9,
2020, at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202004&RIN=2127-AM08.
94 OMB, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Agency Rule List, Department of T ransportation, December 9,
2020, at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202004&RIN=2127-AL81.
95 In January 2020, NHT SA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking for low-volume vehicle manufacturers. See
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/01/07/2019-27211/replica-motor-vehicles-vehicle-identification-
number-vin-requirements-manufacturer-identification.
96 NHT SA, “Replica Motor Vehicles,” 85 Federal Register 792-823, January 7, 2020; and OMB, Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs, Agency Rule List, Department of T ransportation, December 9, 2020, at
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaVie wRule?pubId=202004&RIN=2127-AM08.
97 Department of T ransportation, Report on DOT Significant Rulemakings, February 2020, pp. 58 and 62, at
https://www.transportation.gov/regulations/report-on-significant -rulemakings; and OMB, Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, Agency Rule List, Department of T ransportation, December 9, 2020, at https://www.reginfo.gov/
public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202004&RIN=2127-AK95 and https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/
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Rear seat belt warnings. NHTSA was required to initiate a rulemaking to amend
FMVSS 208 to require instal ation of a seat belt warning system for rear
passengers, similar to what is now required for passengers in front seats. A final
rule (or report if NHTSA chose not to pursue a rule) was required by 2015. An
Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was issued in September 2019, with a
comment period that ended in November 2020. A final rule has not been issued.98
Warning about unattended passengers. MAP-21 suggested—but did not
require—that NHTSA evaluate ways in which drivers could be alerted to children
or other unattended passengers in rear seats. When such research was not
completed, the FAST Act mandated that it be undertaken. No rule has been
issued.
Vehicle defect reporting. A final rule was mandated by 2013 that would require
auto manufacturers to place a sticker in the glove compartment or in another part
of the vehicle that would instruct a vehicle owner on how to file a vehicle defect
complaint with NHTSA. A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was issued in 2016,
but further action has not been taken.
In addition, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 200799 required the establishment of a
national tire fuel efficiency consumer information program for motor vehicle replacement tires. In
2010, NHTSA published a final rule specifying the test procedures that would be used to rate tire
performance,100 but the consumer information part of the statutory requirement has not been
fulfil ed.101
Pending NTSB Recommendations
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent federal agency that
investigates al major transportation crashes.102 After each investigation, it releases a detailed
report, including probable cause of a crash and recommendations for federal policy changes, if
appropriate. The NTSB has no authority to implement its recommendations.
Following are recent NTSB vehicle safety recommendations that have not been enacted by
Congress or finalized as regulations by NHTSA.
Stretch Limousines
Stretch limousines are conventional vehicles purchased from motor vehicle manufacturers, and
lengthened and repurposed by independent car body shops. Several have been involved in fatal

eAgendaViewRule?pubI d=202004&RIN=2127-AL34.
98 Department of T ransportation, Report on DOT Significant Rulemakings, February 2020, p. 64, and OMB, Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Agency Rule List, Department of T ransportation, December 9, 2020, at
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaVie wRule?pubId=202010&RIN=2127-AL37.
99 P.L. 110-140, §111.
100 NHT SA, “T ire Fuel Efficiency Consumer Information Program,” 75 Federal Register 15893-15947, March 30,
2010, and OMB, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Agency Rule List, Department of T ransportation,
December 9, 2020, at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?p ubI d=201710&RIN=2127-AK76.
101 https://www.reginfo.gov/public/Forward?SearchT arget=Agenda&textfield=2127-AK76&Image61.x=0&
Image61.y=0.
102 National T ransportation Safety Board Home P age, at https://www.ntsb.gov.
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crashes; the most recent stretch limousine crash investigated by NTSB occurred near Albany, NY,
in October 2018, kil ing 20 people, including the 17 passengers, the driver, and 2 pedestrians.
In 2019, the NTSB recommended that NHTSA establish standards for seat belt use in stretch
limousines, with requirements that passengers in such vehicles use lap/shoulder belts and that
seating systems instal ed in such modified vehicles meet minimum performance standards “to
ensure their integrity during a crash.”103 In 2014, after investigating a fatal accident involving a
limousine van, NTSB recommended that NHTSA require such vehicles to provide a full-sized
exit on one side of the passenger compartment and another emergency exit elsewhere should the
full-sized exit be blocked in a crash.104
Motorcycles
Among al motor vehicle users, motorcyclists have the highest risk of fatal injuries, which occur
per mile traveled nearly 28 times more frequently than other vehicle fatalities.105 While NTSB
reported in 2018 that more than 90% of crashes it analyzed were due primarily to human error,106
it has urged NHTSA to address the design of motorcycles, including107
 requiring motorcycles to meet performance standards for passenger vehicle crash
warning systems;
 mandating that new motorcycles manufactured for on-road use come equipped
with antilock braking systems; and
 developing standards for stability control systems for on-road motorcycles.
Amphibious Passenger Vehicles
Amphibious passenger vehicles (APVs), more widely known as duck boats, were original y built
during World War II to deliver cargo from ships at sea directly to the shore, and often to evacuate
injured military personnel. Today, they serve as tourist vehicles designed both to drive on roads
and operate as boats in the water. They have multiple regulators because they
 serve as on-road passenger vehicles that must comply with certain federal motor
vehicle standards established by NHTSA;
 are considered smal passenger vessels, so the U.S. Coast Guard inspects them
for seaworthiness and certifies their drivers as vessel captains;

103 NT SB also recommended that the New York State Department of T ransportation ensure that seat belts are
functional and accessible during regular state inspections. National T ransportation Safety Board, Safety
Recom m endation Report
, October 2, 2019, at https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/HWY19MH001.aspx.
104 Letter from Christopher Hart, Chairman, National T ransportation Safety Boar d, to Mark Rosekind, Administrator,
NHT SA, September 8, 2015, at https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-recs/RecLetters/H-15-017.pdf. T he status of both
recommendations can also be tracked by using the NT SB database at https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-main-public/sr-details/
H-19-014 and H-15-017, respectively.
105 NT SB, Select Risk Factors Associated with Causes of Motorcycle Crashes, NT SB/SR-18/01, September 11, 2018,
p. ix, at https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-studies/Documents/SR1801.pdf.
106 Ibid., p. 16.
107 Ibid., p. 39; for a summary of the recommendations, see https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-recs/RecLetters/H-18-
029-038.pdf. T he status of motorcycle recommendations can also be tracked by using the NT SB database at
https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-main-public/sr-details/H-18-029 through -038.
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 are commercial vehicles, so are subject to federal commercial vehicle regulations
enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. In addition, duck
boat safety inspections are typical y conducted by state agencies, and drivers
must be certified by state officials as commercial vehicle drivers.
APVs have been involved in a number of accidents in recent years. Seventeen of 31 passengers
died on a duck boat that sank in a storm on a lake near Branson, MO, in July 2018. In September
2015, a duck boat was involved in a crash with a commercial bus on a bridge in Seattle, kil ing
five passengers. APV accidents occurred in Boston in 2016 and Philadelphia in 2010, and earlier
incidents include a sinking with 13 fatalities in Arkansas in 1999. Among NTSB’s
recommendations were the following:108
 NHTSA should classify al APVs as non-over-the-road buses and make newly
manufactured APVs subject to applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards
in effect at the time of manufacture;
 NHTSA should separately adopt Coast Guard rules about cargo loads and
passenger seating limits; and
 the Coast Guard should revise buoyancy standards for APVs so they remain
afloat in the event of damage; address the safety implications of boat canopies
and supports; and ensure that APV operators instruct passengers not to wear seat
belts when the vehicle is operated in the water.
Tires
According to NTSB research, tire-related vehicle crashes were responsible for more than 700
fatalities in 2017.109 NTSB has recommended that NHTSA be given statutory authority to require
tire dealers to register al tires with NHTSA when they are purchased so buyers can be contacted
more readily in the event of recal s, and that it post recal information such as tire identification
numbers, brand, and models on its website.110
Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Systems
NTSB has examined 15 crashes involving motor vehicles and pedestrians and issued a special
report on its findings in 2018, its first major pedestrian investigation since the 1970s.111 It issued a
report on bicycle crashes involving motor vehicles in 2019.112 NTSB found that improvements in
vehicle systems could mitigate future collisions and their consequences; it recommended

108 NT SB, Safety Recommendation Report, Improving Vessel Survivability, MSR1901, November 6, 2019, at
https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/MSR1901.aspx and NT SB, Am phibious Passenger Vehicle
DUCK 6 Lane Crossover with Motorcoach
, HAR1602, November 15, 2016, at https://www.ntsb.gov/news/events/
Documents/Seattle-WA-DUKW-Abstract.pdf. The status of APV recommendations can also be tracked by using the
NT SB database at https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-main-public/sr-details/M-19-016 and H-16-09, respectively.
109 Latest data, at https://www.nhtsa.gov/equipment/tires.
110 NT SB, Safety Recommendation, H-15-27 through -35, November 12, 2015, at https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-
recs/RecLetters/H-15-027-035.pdf. Establishing a tire recall database was required by Section 24335 of the FAST Act,
but has not been implemented. T he status of tire recommendations can also be tracked by using the NT SB database at
https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-main-public/sr-details/H-15-027 through -35.
111 NT SB, Pedestrian Safety, SIR-18/03, September 25, 2018, at https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-studies/
Documents/SIR1803.pdf.
112 NT SB, Bicyclist Safety on US Roadways: Crash Risks and Countermeasures, SS-19/01, November 5, 2019, at
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 that NHTSA revise federal motor vehicle safety standards to al ow adaptive
headlight systems,113 along with performance standards to ensure that headlights
are correctly aimed and tested;
 that NHTSA develop performance tests and criteria for vehicle designs that could
reduce vehicle-pedestrian injuries;114 and
 expanding NHTSA’s New Car Assessment Program to incorporate tests to
evaluate a vehicle’s ability to avoid crashes and reduce injuries with pedestrians
and bicyclists,115 a step some other countries have already taken.
Autonomous and Connected Driving Systems
While advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are available on many vehicles today, the
motor vehicle industry and technology companies have been seeking to develop vehicles that may
someday be fully automated, requiring little or no driver involvement. Such vehicles do not exist
commercial y now, and NHTSA’s acting administrator cautioned in 2019 that
all vehicles sold to the public today require a driver to be fully attentive and cognitively
engaged in the driving at all times. This is true even if the car is equipped with any of the
ADAS technologies currently on the market. While ADAS technologies are improving and
enhancing safety, they are not self-driving. Misusing driver assistance systems by failing
to maintain control of the operation of the vehicle at all times can result in serious and even
deadly crashes.116
Increasing the autonomy of cars and trucks is general y seen as an effective way to reduce
vehicle-related accidents that may involve human error; a 2015 NHTSA report may cal into
question forecasts that fully autonomous vehicles could nearly eliminate fatalities.117 Autonomous
vehicles may someday have most of the technologies on board to operate independently without
human engagement. Connected vehicles, which are on some roads today, instead use technologies
to communicate with other vehicles and infrastructure around them, and with cloud-based servers.
The connected vehicle safety technologies under development would require cars and trucks to
communicate with each other (vehicle-to-vehicle, or V2V) and with their surroundings (vehicle-
to-infrastructure, or V2I). V2V communication is expected to reduce the number of accidents by

https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-studies/Documents/SS1901.pdf.
113 Adaptive lighting provides better illumination for drivers as they turn corners; the headlights may be self -leveling;
and they may also automatically switch between h igh- and low-beam headlights based on the detection of other
vehicles ahead. NT SB, Pedestrian Safety, SIR-18/03, September 25, 2018, p. 18. NHT SA has published a proposed
rulemaking to permit adaptive driving beam headlighting systems, at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/
eAgendaViewRule?pubI d=202010&RIN=2127-AL83.
114 Ibid., p. 42.
115 NT SB, Bicyclist Safety on US Roadways: Crash Risks and Countermeasures, SS-19/01, November 5, 2019, p. x.
116 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and T ransportation, Testimony of James C, Owens,
Acting Adm inistrator, NHTSA
, Highly Automated Vehicles: Federal Perspectives on the Deployment of Safety
T echnology, 116th Cong., 1st sess., November 20, 2019, p. 5.
117 T he NHT SA report indicated that adverse weather conditions, malfunctioning vehicle parts, and poor highway
design will remain factors in motor vehicle fatalities even when fully autonomous vehicles are in use in the future. In
that report, based on evaluation of vehicle crash data, NHT SA clarified the role of drivers in those accidents. NHT SA’s
report stated that although a “ critical reason” for the surveyed crashes “ was assigned to the driver in an estimated 94%
of the crashes … the critical reason … is not intended to be interpreted as the cause of the crash.... ” and that “in none
of these cases was the assignment intended to blame the driver for causing the crash. ” NHT SA, Critical Reasons for
Crashes Investigated in the National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey
, DOT HS 812 115, February 2015.
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improving detection of oncoming vehicles and providing driver warnings. V2I communication is
expected to help highway operators monitor and manage traffic and provide drivers with
information such as weather and traffic conditions. Autonomous and connected vehicle
technologies may merge in the future.
In the 115th Congress, the House of Representatives passed legislation118 that would have
provided new regulatory tools to NHTSA for the regulation of autonomous vehicles. That
legislation was not brought up for a vote in the Senate due to controversies over possible
preemption of state and local safety laws and the types of federal standards for driverless vehicles
that would be permitted by the legislation.119
Separately, the development of autonomous vehicles could be affected by a Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) rulemaking concerning use of radio frequencies that have
been al ocated exclusively for vehicle communications since 1999.120 On November 18, 2020, the
FCC adopted rules to open this band of spectrum to certain other uses; it has been al ocated
exclusively for development of vehicle communications in 1999 and is known at DOT as the
“safety band.” DOT121 and the auto industry122 have raised concerns about the FCC decision.
DOT argues that the FCC decision favors a technology that has not been fully tested, potential y
leaving autonomous and connected vehicles susceptible to spectrum interference and leading to
accidents.123
In addition, NTSB has recommended that NHTSA develop standards that could ensure safer
operation of autonomous and connected vehicles, including (1) performance standards for
forward collision avoidance systems,124 (2) a standard to limit the use of Level 2 automated
vehicle control systems125 to conditions for which they were designed, and (3) a requirement that
manufacturers report crashes involving misuse of Level 2 control systems.126 It has also cal ed for
NHTSA to expand research and data collection to ensure that experience with pedestrians and
bicyclists is incorporated into the deployment of connected vehicles.

118 H.R. 3388, the SELF DRIVE Act.
119 For a discussion of the issues associated with highly automated vehicles, see CRS Report R45985, Issues in
Autonom ous Vehicle Testing and Deploym ent
, by Bill Canis.
120 For a discussion of spectrum issues related to vehicle safety, see CRS In Focus IF11260, Smart Cars and Trucks:
Spectrum Use for Vehicle Safety
, by Bill Canis and Jill C. Gallagher.
121 T he National T elecommunications and Information Administration outlined DOT ’s concerns with regard to
changing the safety band in a letter to the FCC. Letter from Charles Cooper, Associate Administrator for Spectrum
Management, NT IA, to Marlene Dortch, Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, March 13, 2020, at
https://www.transportation.gov/content/safety-band.
122 Alliance for Automotive Innovation, “Auto Industry Forms Consensus to Move Forward on Safety Spectrum Band
Plan that Advances Lifesaving T echnologies,” press release, April 28, 2020, at https://www.autosinnovate.org/press-
release/auto-industry-forms-consensus-to-move-forward-on-safety-spectrum-band-plan-that-advances-lifesaving-
technologies.
123 David Shepardson, “U.S. agencies question FCC plan to shift auto spectrum to Wi-Fi,” Reuters, October 29, 2020,
at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-spectrum-autos/u-s-agencies-question-fcc-plan-to-shift-auto-spectrum-to-wi-
fi-idUKKBN27E3BR.
124 NT SB, Safety Recommendation, H-15-004-007, June 8, 2015, at https://ntsb.gov/pages/Results.aspx?k=H-15-004.
NHT SA has not issued a rule.
125 NHT SA categorizes automated vehicles as Levels 0-5, a scale that reflects increasing levels of autonomy; currently,
most automated vehicles are Level 2 or 3. NHT SA has not issued a rule.
126 NT SB, New Safety Recommendation, H-17-037-043, September 12, 2017, at http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-recs/
RecLetters/H-17-037-043.pdf. NHT SA has not issued a rule.
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Congress Addresses Motor Vehicle Safety
Motor vehicle safety issues are typical y addressed through multi-year surface transportation
reauthorization legislation, as wel as through the annual appropriations process.
The Moving Forward Act
Title II of Division G of H.R. 2 (116th Congress), as passed by the House, would have required
NHTSA to issue a variety of new or revised standards, general y within two years of enactment:
Safety warning about unattended passengers. In surface transportation laws in
2012 and 2015, Congress cal ed on NHTSA to take action on the issue of
fatalities occurring when children are left in vehicles, often on hot summer days.
NHTSA has not issued a final rule. H.R. 2 would have required NHTSA to issue
a final rule requiring new passenger vehicles to be equipped with a system that
wil provide auditory and visual warnings that an occupant is stil in the car when
the engine or motor is deactivated. It would also have required a study of the
feasibility of retrofitting existing motor vehicles with a similar technology.
Keyless ignition technology.127 NHTSA would have been required to issue a
final rule to ensure that new motor vehicles include technology to (1)
automatical y shut off the engine after a vehicle is parked to prevent carbon
monoxide poisoning and (2) prevent a vehicle from moving if parked but not in
the park setting.
Crash avoidance and headlamp technologies. NHTSA would have been
required to issue final rules requiring al new vehicles to have (1) a range of crash
avoidance technologies (such as automatic emergency braking, forward collision
warning, and blind spot warning) and (2) revised headlamp standards to improve
road il umination (including adaptive headlamps).
NCAP safety rating system. Within one year, NHTSA would have been required
to issue a public report on its five-year plan to improve consumer information on
motor vehicle crashworthiness, as wel as update NCAP’s safety criteria and
crash test procedures, including the impact of crash avoidance technologies such
as AEB and blind spot warning. H.R. 2 would have also required NHTSA to
establish crash avoidance tests to evaluate and prevent injuries and fatalities to
pedestrians and bicyclists.
Limousine safety. NHTSA would have been required to issue final rules
mandating seat belts and event data recorders in stretch limousines (passenger
vehicles with seating capacity of nine or more). NHTSA would have been given
three years to issue a new final standard for passenger evacuations and six years
to conduct research and adopt new standards for stretch limousine

127 Keyless ignition technology is increasingly a standard feature on many passenger motor vehicles, developed as a
security measure to deter break-ins. It replaces the key with an electronic fob that drivers keep in their pockets, purses
or briefcases, enabling the driver to push a button on t he dashboard to start the engine. A safety issue has emerged with
this technology and quieter engines: Drivers have sometimes forgotten to turn off the engine when parked in their
garage, resulting in carbon monoxide poisoning and some deaths. With no key to disengage, other drivers have
forgotten to put the car in park and stepped out while it was still in the drive setting, causing serious injuries.
Automakers have addressed these safety issues with a variety of solutions, including audible warnings and a utomatic
shutdown of the engine. For more information on keyless ignitions, see NHT SA, Keyless Ignition System s, at
https://www.nhtsa.gov/driver-assistance-technologies/keyless-ignition-systems.
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crashworthiness, such as side impact and roof protection. As a new federal
oversight requirement, safety elements of new stretch limousines would have
needed NHTSA approval before being put in service. In addition, the Federal
Trade Commission would have been given authority to enforce new limousine
safety inspection requirements.
Revised hood and bumper standards. NHTSA would have been directed to
establish standards for vehicle hoods and bumpers so that front-end vehicle
collisions with pedestrians and bicyclists would result in reduced injuries and
fatalities.
Children’s booster seats. The booster seat standard would have to have been
revised to require visible labeling about the permissible height and weight of
occupants.
The Senate did not pass separate appropriations for DOT and NHTSA in 2021; these agencies
were funded in H.R. 133, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, passed by Congress on
December 21, 2021, and signed into law on December 27, 2021 (P.L. 116-260).
NHTSA Appropriations
NHTSA’s budget in recent years has had modest growth, as Trump Administration proposals to
reduce some levels of spending were not accepted by Congress. The largest parts of NHTSA’s
budget fund highway traffic safety grants and highway safety research and development. Most of
the reductions recommended by the Administration in FY2018-FY2021 were in the third and
smal est part of the NHTSA budget, the vehicle safety area, affecting al three components of
NHTSA’s Vehicle Safety operations: rulemaking, enforcement, and research and analysis (Table
1).
 The Vehicle Safety & Research budget develops test procedures and assesses the
safety impact and risks of new technologies (such as ADAS), investigates crash
survivability, and operates NHTSA’s Vehicle Research and Test Center in Ohio.
 The rulemaking functions include informing consumers about vehicle safety and
crashworthiness, managing NCAP testing, overseeing fuel economy standards,
and updating current vehicle standards.
 Enforcement officials investigate safety-related defects, ensure that
manufacturers complete recal s, and seek to expand recal notifications via text
messaging and other new outreach methods. The Office of Defects Investigations
(ODI) fal s within the enforcement budget. For FY2021, the Trump
Administration proposed an enforcement budget of $20 mil ion, of which $12
mil ion would have been al ocated for defects investigations. The enacted
FY2021 appropriation cal s for $39 mil ion for enforcement, of which at least
$15 mil ion must be al ocated for defects investigations. (By comparison, the
enacted FY2020 appropriation budgeted $37 mil ion for enforcement, of which
$28 mil ion was to have been used for defects investigations.)128

128 U.S. Department of T ransportation, Fiscal Year 2021: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration , p. 62, at
https://www.transportation.gov/mission/budget/nhtsa-cj-fy-2021-estimates.
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Table 1. NHTSA Vehicle Safety Budget
(dol ars in mil ions)
FY2018
FY2019
FY2020
FY2020
FY2021
FY2021

Actual
Enacted
Request
Enacted
Request
Enacteda
Vehicle
$179
$190
$151
$194
$156
$194
Safety Total
Vehicle Safety
40
49
33
48
33
44
Research &
Analysis
Rulemaking
23
25
23
28
23
30
Enforcement
37
33
20
37
20
39
Administrative
79
83
76
81
81
81
expenses
Source: CRS, based on DOT Budget Estimates for FY2018-FY2021: https://www.transportation.gov/budget.
Notes: Appropriations derived from the general fund. Totals may not add due to rounding. “Enacted” refers to
the amount of spending authorized in an appropriations act; “actual” refers to the amount available after
adjustments such as rescissions and reprogramming, and is reported a year or two after the enactment of the
appropriations.
a. Spending approved in H.R. 133, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, P.L. 116-260.
In their joint explanatory statement129 on NHTSA’s FY2021 funding, the House and Senate
Appropriations Committees noted several areas of concern over NHTSA’s program execution,
including the following:
NTSB recommendations. The statement directs NHTSA to prioritize and
address those NTSB recommendations from November 2019 through December
2020 dealing with testing of autonomous vehicles on public roads.
Automated vehicle research. NHTSA is directed to develop a research program
on dealing with possible injuries of occupants of automated vehicles with
“alternative seating postures and configurations.”
Tire safety. NHTSA is encouraged to implement tire-related provisions in the
2015 FAST Act, and report within three months to Congress on its plans and
schedule for such rulemakings.
Automated vehicle accessibility. NHTSA is directed to develop goals and begin
research on future federal vehicle safety regulations that should “thoroughly
consider people with communicative, physical, cognitive, mental, and other
disabilities.”
Crashworthiness research. NHTSA is directed to update its regulations for
“frontal, side, rollover, front seatbacks, and lower interior impacts for children
and smal adults” and pedestrians, as wel as issues pertaining to future
lightweight vehicle design.

129 House Committee on Appropriations, “House Passes Omnibus Appropriations and Coronavirus Relief Package,”
press release, November 21, 2020, at https://appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/house-passes-omnibus-
appropriations-and-coronavirus-relief-package. NHT SA funding is part of DOT , which is found under Division L of
P.L. 116-260.
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Vehicle electronics and cybersecurity. NHTSA is encouraged to work with
stakeholders on vehicle electronics and cybersecurity chal enges, including
cyber-risk evaluation methods for motor vehicles.
The joint House-Senate explanatory statement also notes that directives to NHTSA in the earlier
report of the House Appropriations Committee130 should be complied with. Among those
directives were that NHTSA should immediately brief the appropriations committees about the
status of a report detailing NHTSA’s plans to enhance its defect investigations, which was due in
June 2020, and that NHTSA should set aside $8 mil ion for new research and a pilot program to
explore how software could be used to facilitate mobility for elderly drivers.

130 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Appropriations, Departments of T ransportation, and Housing and Urban
Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2021, report to accompany H.R. 7616, 116th Cong., 2nd sess.,
July 16, 2020, H.Rept. 116-452. H.R. 7616 passed the House on July 31, 2020.
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Appendix A. Road Traffic Fatalities Abroad
The World Health Organization (WHO) tracks road traffic accidents and progress among 175
countries in enacting and enforcing vehicle and pedestrian safety laws. The WHO report does not
measure the fatality rate per 100 mil ion vehicle miles traveled (VMT), as does the United States.
Instead, WHO developed data from a variety of sources and used a measurement based on
fatalities per 100,000 population. The following data show these 2016 road traffic fatality rates in
selected countries.
Table A-1. Global Comparison of Road Traffic Fatalities
Selected Countries, for 2016
Country
Road Traffic Fatalities per 100,000 Population
Argentina
14.0
Australia
5.6
Brazil
19.7
Canada
5.8
China
18.2
France
5.5
Germany
4.1
India
22.6
Japan
4.1
Mexico
13.1
Russian Federation
18.0
South Korea
9.8
Saudi Arabia
28.8
South Africa
25.9
United Kingdom
3.1
United States
12.4
Global Average
18
Source: World Health Organization, Global Status Report on Road Safety, 2018, pp. 94-266, at
https://www.who.int/publications-detail/global-status-report-on-road-safety-2018.
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Appendix B. Recall Completion Rates
Table B-1. Annual Recall Completion Rates by Major Vehicle Manufacturer
Company
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014

In Percent of Vehicles Recalled
BMW of North America
82
54
77
79
42
Chrysler (FCA US)
76
77
51
54
69
Ford Motor Company
45
45
56
73
70
General Motors
73
93
78
82
66
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
69
78
59
73
72
Hyundai Motor America
95
60
70
63
70
Kia Motors America
88
61
59
67
75
Mercedes-Benz USA
92
33
90
59
69
Nissan North America
53
55
84
85
84
Subaru of America
91
76
72
58
55
Tesla Motors
100
-
-
89
99
Toyota Motor Engineering &
78
74
68
56
67
Manufacturing
Volkswagen Group of America
79
95
93
89
80
Source: NHTSA, Report to Congress: Vehicle Safety Recal Completion Rates Report, May 2017, pp. 32-34, at
https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/documents/13376-recal _completion_rates_rtc-tag_final.pdf.

Author Information

Bill Canis

Specialist in Industrial Organization and Business



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