I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5654 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for increased and improved 
public access to motor vehicle safety information, enhanced tools and 
accountability for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 
and protection of motor vehicle consumers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. 
DEGETTE, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. RUSH, and Mr. TONKO) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce 
A BILL 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for in-
creased and improved public access to motor vehicle safe-
ty information, enhanced tools and accountability for the 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and 
protection of motor vehicle consumers, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Vehicle Safety Improvement Act of 2014’’. 
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(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Definition of Secretary. 
TITLE I—INCREASED AND IMPROVED PUBLIC ACCESS TO 
INFORMATION 
Sec. 101. Increased public availability of vehicle safety information. 
Sec. 102. Improved vehicle safety databases. 
TITLE II—ENHANCED AGENCY TOOLS AND ACCOUNTABILITY 
Sec. 201. Civil penalties. 
Sec. 202. Early warning reporting requirements. 
Sec. 203. Administrative accountability. 
Sec. 204. Imminent hazard authority. 
Sec. 205. Cooperation with foreign governments. 
Sec. 206. Pedestrian safety improvement. 
Sec. 207. Regional recalls limitation. 
TITLE III—CONSUMER PROTECTION 
Sec. 301. Limitation on sale or lease of used motor vehicles. 
Sec. 302. Retention of safety records by manufacturers. 
Sec. 303. Recall obligations under bankruptcy. 
TITLE IV—ADDITIONAL PROVISION 
Sec. 401. Deadlines. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec-
retary of Transportation, acting through the Adminis-
trator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administra-
tion. 
TITLE I—INCREASED AND IM-
PROVED PUBLIC ACCESS TO 
INFORMATION 
SEC. 101. INCREASED PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF VEHICLE 
SAFETY INFORMATION. 
(a) MANUFACTURER COMMUNICATIONS.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 30166(f) of title 49, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 
paragraph (3); 
(B) by striking paragraph (1) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (4) 
and notwithstanding any other provision of law, a 
manufacturer shall give the Secretary of Transpor-
tation, and the Secretary shall make available on a 
publicly accessible Internet website, a true or rep-
resentative copy of each communication to the man-
ufacturer’s dealers or to owners or purchasers of a 
motor vehicle or replacement equipment produced by 
the manufacturer regarding— 
‘‘(A) any defect in its vehicles or equip-
ment (including any failure or malfunction be-
yond normal deterioration in use, or any failure 
of performance, or any flaw or unintended devi-
ation from design specifications), whether or 
not such defect is safety-related; or 
‘‘(B) any noncompliance with a motor vehi-
cle safety standard prescribed under this chap-
ter in a vehicle or equipment that is sold or 
serviced. 
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‘‘(2) TYPES OF COMMUNICATIONS.—The com-
munications described in paragraph (1) shall in-
clude— 
‘‘(A) all notices, bulletins, and other com-
munications, other than those required to be 
submitted pursuant to paragraph (c)(10) of sec-
tion 573.6 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, sent to more than one manufacturer, dis-
tributor, dealer, lessor, lessee, owner, or pur-
chaser, in the United States; and 
‘‘(B) those communications relating to a 
customer satisfaction campaign, consumer advi-
sory, recall, or other safety activity involving 
the repair or replacement of motor vehicles or 
equipment, that the manufacturer issued to, or 
made available to, more than one dealer, dis-
tributor, lessor, lessee, other manufacturer, 
owner, or purchaser, in the United States.’’; 
and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding paragraph 
(1), the Secretary shall not be required to make cop-
ies of communications available that are manifestly 
not related to motor vehicle safety.’’. 
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(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by paragraph (1) shall apply to communications 
given to the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (1) of 
section 30166(f) of title 49, United States Code, as 
amended by such paragraph, starting 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this Act. 
(b) EARLY WARNING DATA.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 30166(m)(4) of title 
49, United States Code, is amended by striking sub-
paragraph (C) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(C) DISCLOSURE.—The information pro-
vided to the Secretary pursuant to this sub-
section shall be disclosed publicly unless exempt 
from disclosure under section 552(b) of title 
5.’’. 
(2) RULE.—Not later than 2 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
issue a final rule establishing categories of informa-
tion provided to the Secretary pursuant to section 
30166(m) of title 49, United States Code, that must 
be made available to the public. The Secretary may 
establish categories of information that the Sec-
retary determines are exempt from public disclosure 
under section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code. 
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(3) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the rule-
making required under paragraph (2), the Secretary 
shall consult with the Director of the Office of Gov-
ernment Information Services within the National 
Archives and the Director of the Office of Informa-
tion Policy of the Department of Justice. 
(4) PRESUMPTION AND LIMITATION.—The Sec-
retary shall issue the regulations with a presumption 
in favor of maximum public availability of informa-
tion, including information contained in field reports 
submitted to the Secretary. In issuing regulations 
under paragraph (2), the following types of informa-
tion shall presumptively not be eligible for protection 
under section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code: 
(A) Vehicle safety defect or noncompliance 
information related to an incident or incidents 
involving death or injury. 
(B) Aggregated numbers of property dam-
age claims. 
(C) Aggregated numbers of consumer com-
plaints related to potential vehicle defects. 
(5) NULLIFICATION OF PRIOR REGULATIONS.— 
Upon the effective date of a final rule issued under 
paragraph (2), the regulations establishing early 
warning reporting class determinations in Appendix 
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C of part 512 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, shall have no force or effect. 
(c) DEATH INQUIRIES.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this Act, and every 6 months 
thereafter, the Secretary shall compile, and make available 
on a publicly accessible Internet website for a period of 
not less than 10 years, summaries of written communica-
tions sent by the Secretary to a manufacturer during the 
preceding 6-month period requesting additional informa-
tion about fatal incidents reported under section 
30166(m) of such title. Each such summary shall include, 
at a minimum, the following: 
(1) The manufacturer. 
(2) Any vehicle or equipment make, model 
name, and model year about which the Secretary has 
inquired. 
(3) Any vehicle system or component about 
which the Secretary has inquired. 
(4) The date of the written communication and 
the date by which a response must be submitted by 
the manufacturer. 
(5) The number of incidents about which the 
Secretary has inquired, and the earliest and latest 
quarters during which such incidents were reported 
to the Secretary. 
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SEC. 102. IMPROVED VEHICLE SAFETY DATABASES. 
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary shall increase public accessibility 
to information on the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration’s vehicle safety databases by— 
(1) improving organization and functionality, 
including modern web design features, and allowing 
for data to be searched, aggregated, and download-
ed; 
(2) providing greater consistency in presen-
tation of vehicle safety issues; 
(3) improving searchability about specific vehi-
cles and issues through standardization of commonly 
used search terms and the integration of databases 
to enable all to be simultaneously searched using the 
same keyword search function; and 
(4) improving the publicly accessible early 
warning database, by— 
(A) enabling users to search for incidents 
across multiple reporting periods for a given 
make and model name, model year, or type of 
potential defect; 
(B) ensuring that search results, in addi-
tion to being downloadable, are sortable within 
an Internet browser by make, model name, 
model year, State or foreign country of the inci-
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dent, number of deaths, number of injuries, 
date of the incident, and type of potential de-
fect; and 
(C) developing a clear, organized, and 
searchable method by which the public can ac-
cess information made available by the Sec-
retary that is reported under clause (ii) of sec-
tion 30166(m)(3)(C) of title 49, United States 
Code, as amended by this Act. 
TITLE II—ENHANCED AGENCY 
TOOLS AND ACCOUNTABILITY 
SEC. 201. CIVIL PENALTIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 30165 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(1)— 
(A) in the first sentence by striking 
‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$25,000’’; and 
(B) by striking the third sentence; and 
(2) in subsection (a)(3)— 
(A) in the second sentence by striking 
‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$25,000’’; and 
(B) by striking the third sentence. 
(b) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in the amendments 
made by this section shall be construed as preventing the 
imposition of penalties under section 30165 of title 49, 
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United States Code, prior to the issuance of a final rule 
under section 31203(b) of the Moving Ahead for Progress 
in the 21st Century Act (49 U.S.C. 30165 note). 
SEC. 202. EARLY WARNING REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 30166(m) of title 49, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking clause (ii) 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(ii) customer satisfaction campaigns, 
customer 
advisories, 
recalls, 
consumer 
complaints, warranty claims, field reports, 
or other activity involving the repair or re-
placement of motor vehicles or motor vehi-
cle equipment.’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (4), by striking subparagraph 
(B) and redesignating subparagraphs (C) and (D) 
as subparagraphs (B) and (C), respectively. 
(b) INFORMATION ON FATAL INCIDENTS.—Section 
30166(m)(3)(C) of title 49, United States Code, is amend-
ed— 
(1) by striking ‘‘The manufacturer’’ and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The manufac-
turer’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
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