TREAD Milestones
(As of April 8, 2005)

INTRODUCTION

The Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act requires NHTSA to complete several actions within the next two years. This document describes the Act’s requirements and published documents, section by section.

SEC. 3.  Reporting Requirements. 

(a) Defects in Foreign Countries: Requires that a manufacturer must report defects (within 5 working days) to the Secretary in motor vehicles or motor vehicle equipment (which includes tires) in foreign countries due to:

(1) a manufacturer’s determination to conduct a safety recall or “other safety campaign” in a foreign country on a motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment that is identical or substantially similar to a vehicle or item of vehicle equipment offered for sale in US; and

(2) notification to manufacturer by a foreign government that a safety recall or other safety campaign must be conducted in that country on a motor vehicle or motor vehicle equipment that is identical or substantially similar to a vehicle or item of vehicle equipment offered for sale in US.  The Secretary must prescribe the contents of this required notification. 

Section 3(b)  Early Warning Reporting Requirements.  

(1) Rulemaking Required.  Directs the Secretary to begin rulemaking within 120 days to establish early warning reporting requirements for manufacturers of motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment to enhance the Secretary’s ability to carry out the motor vehicle safety statute. 

(2) Deadline.  Directs the Secretary to issue a final rule by June 30, 2002.

(3) Reporting Elements.  The reporting elements include:

(A) Warranty and Claims Data.  The final rule must require manufacturers of motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment to report, periodically or upon request, information received by the manufacturer from domestic or foreign sources that may assist in the identification of safety defects in motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment in the US which concerns data on claims submitted to the manufacturer for serious injuries (including death) and aggregate statistical data on property damage from alleged defects; or customer satisfaction campaigns, consumer advisories, recalls, or other activities involving the repair or replacement of vehicles or items of vehicle equipment.

(B) Other Data.  As part of the final rule, the Secretary may, to the extent that the information may assist in the identification of safety defects in motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment in the US, require manufacturers to report, periodically or upon request, such other information as the Secretary may request.

(C) Reporting of Possible Defects.  The manufacturer of a motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment must  report to the Secretary, in a matter set by the Secretary by regulation, all incidents of which the manufacturer receives actual notice that involve fatalities or serious injuries which are alleged or proven to have been caused by a possible defect in the manufacturer's vehicle or vehicle equipment in the US, or in a foreign country when the possible defect is in a vehicle or item of vehicle equipment that is identical or substantially similar to a vehicle or item of vehicle equipment offered for sale in the US.

(4)    Handling and Utilization of Reporting Elements. 

(A) Secretary’s Specifications.  In requiring the reporting of any information, the Secretary must specify in a final rule: (1) how the information will be reviewed and used; (2) the systems and processes to be employed or established to review and use the information; and (3) the manner and form of reporting the information, including electronic form.

(B) Information in Possession of Manufacturer.  The rule may not require a manufacturer to maintain and submit records not in the manufacturer's possession.

(C) Disclosure.  None of the information collected pursuant to the final rule shall be disclosed pursuant to section 30167(b) of the vehicle safety statute unless the Secretary determines the disclosure of the information will assist in carrying out sections 3017(b) and 30118 through 30121 of the statute.

(D) Burdensome Requirements.  In promulgating the final rule, the Secretary may not impose unduly burdensome requirements on a manufacturer, taking into account the manufacture's ability to use the data in a meaningful manner to aid in identifying safety-related defects.

(5) Periodic Review.  As part of the final rule, the Secretary must specify procedures for the periodic review and update of the rule.  

Section 3(c) Sale or Lease of Defective or Noncompliant Tire.  

(1) In General.  Requires the Secretary, within 90 days of enactment, to issue a final rule that requires any person who knowingly and willfully sells or leases for use on a vehicle a defective or noncompliant tire with actual knowledge that the manufacturer of the tire has notified its dealers of the defect or noncompliance, as required by law, to report the sale or lease to the Secretary.

(2) Defect or Noncompliance Remedied or Order Not in Effect.  Reporting under this rule shall not be required where, before delivery under a sale or lease of a tire (A) the defect or noncompliance is remedied as required by law; or (B) notification of the defect or noncompliance is required by law but restrained or set aside in a civil action.

Section 3(d)  Insurance Study.  Directs the Secretary to conduct a study to determine the feasibility and utility of obtaining aggregate information on a regular and periodic basis on auto insurance claims made for private passenger auto accidents from persons in the business of providing passenger auto insurance or of adjusting insurance claims for such autos.  No later than 120 days of enactment, the Secretary must transmit the results of the study to Congress.

SEC. 5.  Penalties. 

Section 5(a) Civil Penalties.  Increases the motor vehicle safety statute's maximum civil penalty from $1,000 to $5,000 for each violation of any of the statute’s general provisions.  Removes the $800,000 ceiling on civil penalties for any related series of violations by increasing the maximum for any related series of violations to $15,000,000.  Establishes the current prohibition for violations of reporting and other informational requirements as a separate provision, setting a new penalty structure for violations of this provision of $5,000 for each violation per day, and the maximum penalty for any related series of daily violations of $15,000,000.

Section 5(b) Criminal Penalties. 

(1) Criminal Liability for Falsifying or Withholding Information: 

(A) General Rule.  Provides that a person who commits acts with respect to the reporting requirements of the vehicle safety statute, which are prohibited by 18 U.S.C. 1001, with the intent to mislead the Secretary about safety defects that have caused death or grievous bodily harm, shall be subject to a fine under title 18, imprisonment for not more than 15 years, or both.

(B) Safe Harbor to Encourage Reporting and for Whistle Blowers.

(i) Correction.  A person described above in the general rule may avoid criminal penalties if:  (a) at the time of the violation the person does not know that the violation would result in an accident causing death or serious bodily injury; and (b) the person corrects any improper reports or failure to report within a reasonable time. 

(ii) Reasonable Time and Sufficiency of Correction.  The Secretary shall set by final rule within 90 days of enactment what constitutes a reasonable time and what manner of correction is sufficient. 

(iii) Effective Date.  The effective date of the provision of criminal liability for falsifying or withholding information shall not be before that of the final rule on what constitutes a reasonable time and what manner of correction is sufficient. 

(2)  Coordination with Department of Justice.  The Attorney General may bring an action or initiate grand jury proceedings for a violation of the above general rule only at the request of the Secretary.

SEC. 6.  Acceleration of Manufacturer Remedy Program.  Amends the vehicle safety statute's “Adequacy of Repairs” section to provide that: (1) if the Secretary determines that a manufacturer's remedy program is not likely to be capable of completion in a reasonable time, the Secretary may require the manufacturer to accelerate the remedy program if the Secretary finds: (A) there is a risk of serious injury or death if the remedy program is not accelerated; and (B) that acceleration of the remedy program can be reasonably achieved by expanding the sources of replacement parts, expanding the number of authorized repair facilities, or both; and (2) a manufacturer’s remedy program must include a plan for reimbursing an owner or purchaser who incurred the cost of remedy within a “reasonable time” prior to the manufacturer’s notification of a defect or noncompliance with a FMVSS, as required by law.  The Secretary may prescribe regulations establishing what constitutes a reasonable time and other reasonable conditions for the reimbursement plan.

SEC.  7.  Sales of Replaced Tires.  Provides that in the case of a remedy program involving the replacement of tires, the manufacturer shall include a plan addressing how to prevent, to the extent reasonably within the manufacturer’s control, replaced tires from being resold for installation on a motor vehicle, and how to limit, to the extent reasonably within the control of the manufacturer, the disposal of replaced tires in landfills, particularly through shredding, crumbling, recycling, recovery, and other alternative beneficial non-vehicular uses.  The manufacturer must include information about the implementation of the plan with each quarterly report to the Secretary about the progress of any notification and remedy campaigns.    

SEC. 8.  Sales of Replaced Equipment.  Prohibits the sale or lease of any item of vehicle equipment (including a tire) for installation on a motor vehicle that is subject of a decision or notice concerning a defect or noncompliance with a Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) unless:  (1) the defect or noncompliance is remedied as required by law before delivery under the sale or lease; or (2) notification of the defect or noncompliance is required by law but enforcement of the order is set aside in a civil action. 

SEC. 9.  Certification Label.  Requires that for a certification label affixed by an intermediate or final stage manufacturer of a motor vehicle built in more than 1 stage, each intermediate or final stage manufacturer must certify to each applicable FMVSS that it has:  (1) complied with the specifications set forth in the compliance documentation provided by the incomplete motor vehicle manufacturer in accord with regulations prescribed by the Secretary; or (2) elected to assume responsibility for compliance with that FMVSS.  If the intermediate or final stage manufacturer elects to assume responsibility for compliance with the FMVSS covered by the documentation provided by an incomplete motor vehicle manufacturer, the intermediate or final stage manufacturer must notify the incomplete motor vehicle manufacturer in writing within a reasonable time of affixing the certification label.  A violation of this provision, however, shall not be subject to the vehicle safety statute’s civil penalty provision.  

SEC.  10.  Endurance and Resistance Standards for Tires:  Directs the Secretary to conduct a rulemaking to revise and update the tire standards published at 49 CFR 571.109 and 571.119, and to complete the rulemaking by June 1, 2002.         

SEC.  11.  Improved Tire Information. 

(a) Tire Labeling.  Directs the Secretary to initiate rulemaking, within 30 days of enactment, to improve the labeling of tires to assist consumers in identifying tires that may be the subject of a recall, and to complete the rulemaking no later than June 1, 2002. 

(b) Inflation Levels and Load Limits.  In the rulemaking above for tire labeling, the Secretary may take whatever additional action is appropriate to ensure that the public is aware of the importance of observing tire load limits and maintaining proper tire inflation levels for safe operation.  The additional action may include a requirement that the manufacturer of motor vehicles provide the purchasers of the motor vehicles information on appropriate tire inflation levels and load limits if the Secretary determines that requiring such manufacturers to provide this information is the most appropriate way the information can be provided.

SEC.  12.  Rollover Tests.  No later than 2 years of enactment, the Secretary shall: (1) develop a dynamic test on rollovers of motor vehicles (defined as covering passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, and trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 lbs. or less, and excluding a vehicle designed to provide temporary residential accommodations) for the purposes of a consumer information program; and (2) carry out a program of conducting such tests.  As the Secretary develops a rollover test, the Secretary must conduct a rulemaking to determine how best to disseminate test results to the public.        

SEC.  13.  Tire Pressure Warning.  No later than 1 year of enactment, the Secretary must compete a rulemaking to require a warning system in new motor vehicles to indicate to the operator when a tire is significantly under-inflated.  The rule must be effective within 2 years after completing the rulemaking.

SEC.  14.  Improving the Safety of Child Restraints.

Section 14(a) In General.--Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall initiate a rulemaking for the purpose of improving the safety of child restraints, including minimizing head injuries from side impact collisions.

Section 14(b) In carrying out this rulemaking, the Secretary must consider nine specific elements, such as requiring more comprehensive tests for child restraints than are presently required by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 213, including dynamic tests that replicate side- and rear-impact crashes and that reflect the designs of current passenger motor vehicles.

Section 14(c) Report to Congress -- If the Secretary does not incorporate any element described in subsection (b) in the final rule, the Secretary shall explain, in a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee on Commerce submitted within 30 days after issuing the final rule, specifically why the Secretary did not incorporate any such element in the final rule.

Section 14(d) Completion - Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall complete the rulemaking required by subsection (a) not later than 24 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Section 14(f) Funding - For each fiscal year, of the funds made available to the Secretary for activities relating to safety, not less than$750,000 shall be made available to carry out crash testing of child restraints.

Section 14(g) Child Restraint Safety Ratings Program - No later than 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall issue a notice of proposed rulemaking to establish a child restraint safety rating consumer information program to provide practicable, readily understandable, and timely information to consumers for use in making informed decisions in the purchase of child restraints. No later than 24 months after the date of enactment of this Act the Secretary shall issue a final rule establishing a child restraint safety rating program and providing other consumer information which the Secretary determines would be useful to consumers who purchase child restraint systems.

Section 14(h) Booster Seat Study - In addition to consideration of booster seat performance and structural integrity contained in subsection (b)(7), not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall initiate and complete a study, taking into account the views of the public, on the use and effectiveness of automobile booster seats for children, compiling information on the advantages and disadvantages of using booster seats and determining the benefits, if any, to children from use of booster with lap and shoulder belts alone, and submit a report on the results of that study to the Congress.

Section 14(i) Booster Seat Education Program B The Secretary of Transportation within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act shall develop a 5 year strategic plan to reduce deaths and injuries caused by failure to use the appropriate booster seat in the 4 to 8-year-old age group by 25 percent.

SEC. 15.  Improving Criteria Used in a Recall.  Directs the Secretary to undertake a comprehensive review of all standards, criteria, procedures, and methods, including data management and analysis used in determining whether to open a defect or noncompliance investigation and to take such steps as may be necessary to update and improve these measures.  The review is to begin within 30 days after enactment and conclude with a report to Congress within one year of enactment.

SEC. 16.  Follow-Up Report.Requires the Secretary 1 year after enactment to report to Congress on the implementation of the amendments made by this Act and on any recommendations for additional amendments for consumer safety.