Senators Hammer NHTSA, Forget Coming Driverless Vehicles

Burney Simpson

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is not having a good summer.

It was publicly slammed in a report from the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General, then the report was delivered – cameras rolling – to a senate committee by the IG. The story received national coverage.

This is akin to the goody-two-shoes co-worker that calls you out in front of the boss, then tells the same story to your boss’s boss.

After the IG’s testimony, several senators ran to the cameras to say that NHTSA may not get any more funding unless they clean up their act. (Can’t wait ‘til one of the geniuses running for president weighs in on this.)

Keep in mind, some of these same senators have refused President Obama’s request to triple the budget of NHTSA’s Office of Defect Investigation so it can address the issues in the IG’s report.

Here’s what the report detailed:

• NHTSA cannot adequately collect vehicle safety data because the agency gives such poor guidance to both auto OEMs and consumers on the information it seeks to collect.
• The data that is collected proves inconsistent and of little use, according to the IG’s report “Inadequate Data and Analysis Undermine NHTSA’s Efforts to Identify and Investigate Vehicle Safety Concerns.’
• NHTSA’s investigative division doesn’t “follow standard statistical practices … thoroughly screen consumer complaints … or adequately train or supervise its staff.”

The IG made 17 recommendations to NHTSA on improving its work and NHTSA agreed to implement all of them by June 2016.

Clearly, NHTSA is having difficulty overseeing the safety of cars with drivers.

These are the guys in charge of the safety of driverless vehicles?

The embarrassing report follows data from NHTSA that shows only incremental improvement in vehicle accident fatalities since 2009 (See “Road Safety Hits a Plateau: Fed Traffic Stats,” June 12, 2015).

The IG’s report was the result of a year-long audit demanded by senators in the wake of the General Motors recall of 8.7 million vehicles due to a faulty ignition switch that has been linked to 110 fatalities and 220 injuries.

And hanging over NHTSA is its response to the Takata airbags that have led to eight deaths, more than 100 injuries, and the recall of 32 million vehicles.

Several senators acknowledged that NHTSA needs greater resources to conduct its work, and that its new director needs time to turn around this aircraft carrier.

Trouble is, the agency is overwhelmed fixing past problems. The need is there to ensure the safety of the on-our-doorstep driverless technology that is bringing a transportation revolution.