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Even a glimmer of hope offered in proposed legislation was grudgingly supported by GM with caveats and loopholes that GM plans to use with complicit government agencies and GM lobbyists.  See 

“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Giselle Barry (Markey) 202-224-2742

VIDEO: GM Expresses Support for Markey-Blumenthal Legislative Efforts Mandating More Early Warning Data Be Made Available to the Public

VIDEO: http://bit.ly/1jCyple

In wake of GM recall, Senators introduced legislation to increase transparency and earlier reporting of auto defects

Washington (July 17, 2014) – Today at the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on the GM recalls, GM CEO Mary T. Barra expressed her support for components of the legislation introduced by Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) that would ensure more transparency and earlier reporting of safety issues to prevent auto injuries and fatalities. The legislation, S. 2151 the Early Warning Reporting System Improvement Act, would require the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) make the information it receives from auto manufacturers publicly available in a searchable, user-friendly format so that consumers and independent safety experts can evaluate potential safety defects themselves. GM has admitted to knowing for at least a decade about the ignition switch defect in Chevy Cobalts and Saturn Ions that have led to the historic recall, while NHTSA failed to act more quickly and aggressively on accident reports and other information it had to investigate the defect.

“We support efforts to make the NHTSA website more accessible and useful,” said Ms. Barra in response to a question from Senator Markey on whether GM would support the legislation. “We also support efforts to make reports on fatalities and early warning data more available to the public as long as the right provisions are there to protect privacy and to protect confidential information from an overall perspective.”

Specifically, the Early Warning Reporting System Improvement Act:

·         Requires automobile and equipment manufacturers to automatically submit the accident report or other document that first alerted them to a fatality involving their vehicle or equipment to NHTSA’s Early Warning Reporting (EWR) database. NHTSA is then required to automatically make those documents public unless they are exempted from public disclosure under the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA). Presently, these documents are only provided to NHTSA if the agency requests them, and they are not made public unless they are requested under FOIA;

·         Requires NHTSA to consider EWR information when it is investigating potential safety defects and when it is evaluating citizen petitions for automobile safety standards or enforcement actions;

·         Requires NHTSA to upgrade its online databases to improve searchability, integrate its different databases so they can all be searched at once, and ensure that all documents obtained or created by NHTSA related to a safety incident are both made publicly available and keyword searchable in its databases; and

·         Requires NHTSA to provide public, searchable notices of all inspection and investigation activities it undertakes.”

A must read “reality check” has been published in the LA Times by a giant of auto safety.  

The answer to that question is that NHTSA is abysmally underfunded and understaffed, and lacks a foundation of tough laws to support its regulatory mission. Nothing in today’s political environment suggests that is going to change soon.”

Tomorrow President Obama will try to divert public attention from his failures to protect Americans from crash injuries by touting DOT funding of research of auto companies.“Washington — President Barack Obama on Tuesday will tout the importance of “vehicle to vehicle” technology research that could one day help save tens of thousands of road deaths, the White House said.”

“The speech may provide Obama’s most significant direct remarks on auto safety since taking office. Despite Toyota Motor Corp.’s sudden acceleration crisis in 2010 and General Motors Co.’s ongoing ignition switch problem and massive recalls, Obama has said little about road safety during his tenure.

“Instead he has repeatedly focused on his administration’s efforts to improve fuel efficiency and the fact that the administration saved General Motors and Chrysler Group LLC as part of the $85 billion auto bailout.”

Please see attached letter from safety advocates to U.S. House of Representatives Committee leaders.