The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) recommending amendments to certain provisions of the early-warning reporting (EWR) rule and the regulations governing motor vehicle and equipment safety recalls.
The amendments to the EWR rule would require light-vehicle manufacturers to specify the vehicle type and fuel and/or propulsion system type in their reports as well as add new component categories of stability-control systems for light vehicles, buses, emergency vehicles and medium-heavy vehicle manufacturers, and forward collision avoidance, lane departure prevention and back-over prevention for light vehicle manufacturers. In addition, NHTSA proposes to require motor vehicle manufacturers to report their annual list of substantially similar vehicles via the Internet.
Regarding safety recalls, NHTSA proposes, among other things, to require certain manufacturers to submit vehicle identification numbers for recalled vehicles and report changes daily in recall remedy status for those vehicles; require online submission of recall reports and information; and require adjustments to the content of the owner notification letters and envelopes issued to owners and purchasers of recalled vehicles and equipment.