WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill unveiled legislation today reauthorizing the national High...

1. McCaskill introduces transportation bill that targets
automakers
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill unveiled legislation today reauthorizing the
national Highway Trust Fund for six years and increasing penalties that can be levied on automakers
for safety violations in the wake of this year’s record General Motors recalls.
McCaskill, D-Mo., whose consumer protection subcommittee has been at the center of Senate
questioning of GM officials regarding the recalls, introduced the legislation a day after the chamber
passed a stopgap measure funding the Highway Trust Fund until May.
But that stopgap measure and the impending midterm elections throw into doubt the likelihood of
any such legislation passing in the near term, especially since there have been several other
proposals made already. With that in mind, it’s difficult to know what a trust fund
reauthorization or changes to auto regulations in response to the GM crisis may ultimately look like.
McCaskill’s legislation, however, made clear her intent to make the GM recall — linked
to an ignition-switch defect tied to at least 13 deaths and more than 50 crashes — the
centerpiece of her rewriting of highway and vehicle safety laws.
Her proposal would double the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s funding for
vehicle safety over the 6-year spending reauthorization, eliminate a current $35-million cap on civil
penalties against automakers for safety violations and grant greater discretion to prosecutors to file
criminal charges for auto safety violations.
The legislation would provide a penalty of up to life in prison for certain violations of the federal
motor vehicle safety code that caused the death of a person and up to 15 years imprisonment for
someone whose actions caused serious bodily injury.
■Interactive time line: General Motors ignition switch recall
It would also, she said, amend bankruptcy law to ensure that consumers have greater claim
protection against automakers sold in liquidation.
She also said she would include a requirement that rental car companies ground any vehicle under a
safety recall and ensure “NHTSA has the tools necessary to protect consumers,”
though it was not immediately clear what those changes might entail.
“For too long, auto safety resources have remained virtually stagnant while cars and the
safety challenges they present have become more complex,” she said. “This bill
addresses those challenges by giving safety regulators the financial and enforcement resources
necessary to modernize and better protect American consumers.”
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, an industry trade group, did not immediately respond to
McCaskill’s proposal.
GM, in a statement, said it is working to ensure that customer safety is “at the center of all

2. that we do. We will carefully review Sen. McCaskill’s bill.”
NHTSA declined to comment on the proposal but said it “welcomes the opportunity to work
with lawmakers so it can do even more to protect U.S. motorists.”
Despite the proposal, it’s expected that little work will be done on a new transportation
reauthorization bill — and how to pay for it — until sometime next year after a new
Congress begins. McCaskill’s bill would include a 5% annual increase in highway funds for
the states each year but is silent on how those funds would be paid for.
http://www.freep.com/article/20140801/BUSINESS01/308010153/1210/business01