From MEMA Washington Insider
On June 2, the House Energy & Commerce Committee, subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, held a hearing on Takata Airbag recalls. The link to the committee briefing memo and written testimony can be found here.
During the first panel, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Administrator Mark Rosekind testified about the timeline and vehicles involved in the recalls – now more than 34 million across multiple automakers. He discussed the “coordinated remedy program” between NHTSA, Takata and the automakers, as well as how he used his authority to implement the consent agreement with Takata. He pointed out that this recall will be a “monumental task” as there are multiple issues involved dealing with the design, engineering and chemistry involved in the parts in question.
He stated there will be both short-term and long-term remedies for replacement parts, and part of the uncertainty lies with the fact that the root cause of the defect has yet to be determined. Rosekind stressed that funding for NHTSA has remained flat over several years, and that adjusted for inflation it is actually down 23 percent over the past several years. During questioning, several Democratic members of the subcommittee mentioned HR 1181, the Vehicle Safety Improvement Act of 2015, introduced by Schakowski (D-9-Ill.) and Pallone (D-6-N.J.). Rosekind stated that he supports increasing fines for violations of the safety act to $300 million, or even an unlimited amount.
Other questions for Rosekind focused on the amount of fines levied thus far against Takata, the use of ammonium nitrate in its propellant, the age range of vehicles experiencing airbag ruptures and ongoing testing of airbags by NHTSA.
During the second panel, industry representatives reaffirmed their commitment to solving this problem, increasing recall completion rates, and outlined the decreases in annual vehicle fatalities and increases in advanced vehicle technologies.
A witness from Takata detailed their ongoing testing of defective inflators and replacement parts, and the steps that are being taken to change the design and function of the replacement parts. While he made it clear that many of the replacement parts will no longer use ammonium nitrate, some of them will continue to use this as a propellant, but with a different shape to the “wafer” containing the chemical propellant. Much of the questioning was directed at the Takata witness, and there was general dissatisfaction from subcommittee members about the continued use of ammonium nitrate and lack of clearly identified root cause for the ruptures. Other witnesses on the second panel pointed out this is a global issue impacting vehicles in many nations, and that it would take a great deal of time and effort from regulators, automakers, suppliers and consumers to remedy the vehicles.
This is the second hearing over the Takata airbag recall. It has not been stated whether the Senate Commerce Committee will hold another hearing. Senators Markey (D-Mass.) and Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have indicated they will introduce vehicle safety legislation, expected to be similar to H.R. 1181.
