ATA Backs Bill to Preserve Universal Vehicle Safety Regs

The legislation would block attempts to undermine NHTSA's nationwide standards

Washington - Today, the American Trucking Associations applauded the introduction of the Uniform Vehicle Safety Standards Act. The bicameral bill would affirm that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is the primary authority over motor vehicle safety regulations, ensuring that there are consistent standards for the trucking industry across all 50 states.

"When NHTSA establishes a federal safety standard, manufacturers and motor carriers should be able to rely on that determination. Allowing lawsuits to effectively impose equipment mandates that diverge from federal requirements creates uncertainty, drives up costs, and threatens the uniformity that keeps our nation's supply chain moving safely and efficiently," said ATA's SVP of Legislative Affairs Alex Rosen. "The trucking industry applauds Reps. Flood, Obernolte, Rouzer, and Ellzey and Sens. Fischer and Lummis for introducing this commonsense legislation to affirm NHTSA's role as the nation's expert regulator for motor vehicle safety standards. If NHTSA, after evaluating the available evidence through its rulemaking process, determines that a particular standard strikes the appropriate balance to maximize motor vehicle safety, that expert determination should carry greater weight than the hindsight judgments advanced by profit-seeking trial attorneys in individual courtrooms."

For six decades, Congress has entrusted NHTSA to set vehicle standards that are "practicable," "objective," and meet the need for safety. NHTSA administers an open, transparent rulemaking process that considers engineering data, public input, costs, and safety outcomes. The trucking industry follows these standards and takes a proactive approach to safety, investing $14 billion annually in equipment, technologies, and driver training. Manufacturers also devote substantial resources to designing, testing, and producing trucks and trailers that satisfy NHTSA's engineering-based requirements. Yet they increasingly face the prospect that meeting every applicable federal standard may still be deemed legally insufficient years later.

Due to an ambiguity in current law, NHTSA's evidence-based standards are being superseded by state common-law claims. Juries are applying state tort law to effectively impose standards that differ from or exceed those adopted by NHTSA at the time the equipment in question was manufactured. The result is legal uncertainty that undermines nationwide motor vehicle safety standards.

The Uniform Vehicle Safety Standards Act would preserve NHTSA's role as the nation's primary motor vehicle safety regulator, as Congress intended. This clarification would benefit manufacturers and the broader trucking industry by allowing businesses to make long-term equipment investments with confidence, which in turn would help to prevent supply chain disruptions and lower costs for consumer goods. The bill complements similar language for which ATA advocated that was included in the BUILD America 250 Act earlier this year.

The Uniform Vehicle Safety Standards Act was introduced by Representatives Mike Flood (R-NE), Jake Ellzey (R-TX), Jay Obernolte (R-CA), and David Rouzer (R-NC) in the House and Senators Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) in the Senate.

Other organizations that joined ATA in endorsing the bill include the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, American Bus Association, American Property Casualty Insurance Association, International Foodservice Distributors Association, National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, National Association of Trailer Manufacturers, National Motor Freight Traffic Association, National Tank Truck Carriers, Nebraska Trucking Association, Timpte, Truck Renting and Leasing Association, Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association, Truckload Carriers Association, and Werner.