Congress Moving to Improve Auto Safety Laws
It usually takes a crisis to get Congress to act on important problems. Toyota created a crisis by failing to disclose its vehicles have a tendency to suddenly accelerate.
Key congressional committees are working on new laws that would strengthen auto safety. Under the bills being considered, all new cars must have brake override mechanisms to stop the cars even when the accelerator is engaged and the cars must have black boxes to record data just before and after a crash.
The federal safety agency administrator is proposing that Congress give the agency the ability to order immediate recalls if consumers are in danger. Currently, a federally required recall is a lengthy and cumbersome process, meaning virtually all recalls are voluntary actions by the carmakers.
Concurrently, Sen Barbara Boxer has introduced a bill that would bar federal safety agency employees who go to work for auto manufacturers from lobbying the agency for at least three years. Late last year, Toyota employees, who recently worked for the agency, successfully lobbied the agency to narrow the scope of a recall.
The NY TImes does its usual fine job of covering these developments: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/business/07auto.html?pagewanted=1&hp
