House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) joined other lawmakers in expressing outrage Monday over a report that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was hampered by process issues in protecting Americans on U.S. roads.
Joining Upton in responding to the report from the Department of Transportation Inspector General were Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Michael C. Burgess (R-TX), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA).
“Auto safety is serious business, and the safety regulator’s own watchdog has just concluded that the agency wasn’t fully up to the job,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement. “We always thought part of the problem was the failure of NHTSA and the inspector general report confirms it. They can do better, and indeed we believe they must do better.”
The report, which was released last week, called out the NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation, saying inadequate data collection and analysis were undermining the ability to identify vehicle safety concerns.
“Our own review of NHTSA showed an agency that has too often struggled to keep pace with changing vehicle technology, with information silos preventing the right people from connecting the dots and identifying defects sooner to save more lives,” the lawmakers said. “With new leadership at the helm and this new roadmap for reform, we look forward to working closely with NHTSA to institute the types of reforms needed to keep drivers and passengers safe.”