tv Key Capitol Hill Hearings CSPAN June 24, 2015 10:00pm-12:01am EDT
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we certainly worry about that. it is it is an untenable situation klaxon your testimony you mentioned concerns with the main rail conference about the ability of commuter rail property past the deadline as it relates to a reliability and coverage. can you further describe what issues would prevent commuter rail that does not meet the deadline for operating? clicks well, when we were at the conference the question was raised on whether we could operate or individual agencies can operate past the deadline because you are operating outside the confines of the law. all the commuter railroads are going with their risk and legal teams to take a
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look and see if that is the case clicks metro won't make the december 312015 deadline. will not make the deadline. if the worst worst-case scenario occurs and commuter rail does not receive flexibility how would commuters who rely upon metro or other rail except the impact that operation changes? >> that would depend on the degree of what actually happens. if rail awards were forced to cut down that would put 300,000 passengers on the roads that are already congested which would not be a good solution. >> in pennsylvania the onboard vehicle locomotive system installations and you cited in your testimony one of the biggest challenges is
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onboard software and that final election date is not yet known. can you tell known. can you tell us why this is such a challenge? >> i do not have that knowledge. >> in the very beginning it was somewhat theoretical and the way that the regulation was published in terms of what it had to accomplish. and and so we took a system that was much smaller, much less complicated, and much less mature through the last seven years and worked to the.where it can comply with all the regulations and functionality that has been required. i tell you from a software perspective they're getting closer and he arguably the end of the year we can have a piece of software that is
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very close. the same close. the same time we have committed to not implement software that has any critical defects or severe defects but we are willing to deploy software with median or modern defects. not really trying to get to perfect, we are making sure that it can provide the functionality and does not create a situation where there and a safety problem introduced. just in the last month or so we have found a safety critical defect in the onboard software which must be corrected, retested taken to corrected, retested taken to the field, and the same holds true. these are people, this is their business, what they do for living. if they're unable to tackle the technical challenge has been put in front of us that
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gives you understanding of the complexity of the challenge that we have because it is just one piece of the puzzle. just one piece of the puzzle. clicks thank you. thank you mr. chairman. clicks thank you, and i would like to recognize ms. brown. brown. i will turn it over to mr. akita. one piece of information for the record. this is from california high-speed rail their june 2009 request for funding. on there. on their request the request 230 million from the investment strategy from those funds that have been allocated to california. the the map where it shows exactly where those improvements would be. can you zoom that in? clearly move it up. this court or right here positive train control $230 million.
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california high-speed rail thinks that they can do it. this is this is in california. we want to safety improvement there. >> mr. chairman, understood. passed me a note in the hearing that states that high-speed rail funding is in $328 million. we will $320 million. we will follow up and look at those numbers together. >> thank you. we continue this ongoing exchange and i would like to recognize ms. brown for our second round of questioning. >> thank you. indulge me for a moment. amtrak had not implemented positive train control from new haven to boston. not not only did they implement but it was the first in the country and i
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want to submit that for the record. metro fly visited with several times i just want to mention that you have the support of the state and local recovery money. budget is an issue for all of those. let's those. let's don't sit here and act like it is not. a a lot of local resources are not available. with that i want to go on. i want to say great things but you are the one here representing platform railroads. positive players. we need an extension, the idea that we're going to start fining people. i i want the money to go and the system.
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>> there are no bad actors. they use the major us class once. the challenge. the canadian railroads of a slightly smaller footprint. they don't run as much as the united states and there is no band aid income of 25 in canada. at least in the class one world there are no bad actors. >> that is not what i have heard. are i have heard. are you working with the commuter lines? >> we are. we have commuters in and around dc chicago, and a full spectrum of commuters and amtrak that run from baltimore to boston. active discussions with them all the time.
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the committee etcher. did our best to try to help educate folks so they would not have to face the same challenges as they deployed on their railroads. we had we had a good dialogue. we had a good dialogue and have kept it. another meeting planned for later this year we can reengage and reassess where we are. >> what is the dropdead amount of time that you need? >> as an industry hardware complete by 2018 we want to make sure everyone understands by the end of 2018 we will have an
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87 percent of the ptc footprint installed and implemented based upon current plans plans that were in place shortly before the tragedy and the remaining 13 percent is what comes from those last two years. literally we are starting to deploy operational modes right now. it ramps up from here through the end of 2012. >> how long will it take you to inspect? you have work to do. >> they would submit a plan which we would turn around to them and then they complete implementation and things would move quite quickly. the issue is that you would be three years past the deadline. >> everybody understand that. it is not realistic and we have concerns. i have a real concern.
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we talked a lot about it. even it. even when implemented what about the local responders? we need to be able to talk to each other. and then katrina. even even though there implement a something and amtrak is implementing you have those local responders. how come we do not have a dedicated line for emergency in this country. >> working hard to create an infrastructure for national interoperable public safety communication system. i think i think that is being addressed in that way in a separate spectrum band and being handled in a separate process. >> we really need to get
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>> last hearing ms. miss feinberg ms. feinberg said they are looking at having a two-person crew situation as an internal solution along with some additional backstops as well. until ptc is implemented for deadline after deadline. would you would you be supportive? >> well, i think it is not necessary. commuter side of the house. we have crewmembers in the train itself. >> operate with 1% in 1 percent in the cabin 2 percent of the money. we don't support that initiative clicks you
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are in the stuff you would have to go through to remove one member clicks okay. thank you. the only thing i would ask the record is in addition to the other things ms. feinberg may or may not, she now has apparently sent him to the hospital which obligates me to have to go visit him. abcaseven with that my questions are done and i see no more from members. let me thank you for coming in today thank the members of the audience. we move forward. with no other business before the committee's hearings adjourned.
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>> tonight on c-span2 a senate hearing on the toccata airbag safety recall affecting 30 million cars us and then some of today's debate prior to the senate vote approving trade promotion authority for the president and a house hearing a house hearing on the implementation of new technology to improve rail safety.
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[inaudible conversations] >> good morning, morning welcome, everyone. we call this hearing for an important reason. defective airbags are hurting people and we have not figured out why. this is a pivotal time in vehicle safety. advances in vehicle technology and safety innovation as well as robust safety initiatives have reduced the number of deaths on the road. still tragically more than 30,000 people die every year due to motor vehicle accidents. in airbag is one of the most important vehicle safety innovations which is why it is so alarming. today today we will be asking witnesses for an update on recall and remedy efforts for toccata airbag
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inflator's. large number of people recalled, 11 auto manufacturers, the lack of an identifying root cause and age of vehicles affected have made remedying the problem exceedingly difficult. these challenges do not excuse the responsibility of audio to have auto manufacturers suppliers and that traffic safety administration of their shared obligation to ensure vehicles are safe. the first the first priority should be fixing recalled vehicles as soon as possible toccata and other toccata and other alternative suppliers have ramped up the production of replacement parts. phasing out certain types of inflator's.
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this testing will help to assess the scope of the recall and safety of the replacement parts. recall fatigue and confusion are going. resulting in delays for consumer notice in the number of times the same vehicle may be subject to recall may further complex consumers. nearly 64 million automobiles and appreciate the industry are looking for ways to improve the process. i look forward to hearing more about the report which
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raises serious questions about the ability and seriousness. beyond identifies unseriousness. the audit identifies many practices in which the agency repeatedly dropped the ball. weaknesses call into question whether the agency can effectively identify and investigate potential safety problems and carry out its safety mission. especially disconcerting given the scale and complexity. i am pleased to know administrator rose kindest concurrent and has admitted to implement them. far too many troubling recalls which is why have worked with the center to pass our motor vehicle safety whistleblower act. resulting from safety defects. despite a long vacancy you have been looking for ways to improve. there have been assessments
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and a plan for a path forward but now is the time for accountability. agency, automakers suppliers, and dealers in congress must work together to reduce death and injury. his committee will continue to conduct oversight of the recall and vehicle safety efforts. i appreciate the general cooperation of toccata. we just received the production documents. i'm sure we'll have more questions. the vehicle identification number online@safercar.gov. if you determine your vehicle is subject to a recall to schedule an appointment to get it fixed as soon as possible. i am pleased to welcome administrator rose kind
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first appearance before the committee since confirmation and want to welcome our witnesses for second full committee hearing on this important issue. i want i want to thank the witnesses and look forward to your testimony and will start with the first panel. clicks thank you, mr. chairman. if i may weekend have an investigation done by danger behind the wheel, the toccata airbag wheel, the toccata airbag crisis and how to fix our broken auto recall process done by our minority committee staff if i may have that entered into
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the record clicks without objection clicks thank you for your cooperation. you will recall last year we started the hearings on these airbag defects. the news was not good. at that time last november you have five deaths and dozens of injuries she's suffered severe facial injuries and loss one arise when airbag exploded. since the recalls of ramped
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is this device which is in the stairwell underneath the stirring well. this explodes sending hot gas out and inflating the airbag. what it is defective it explodes with such force that it actually breaks open the metal killing people. let me show you. that is a piece of metal that actually came out on this lady miami last july. the company that is.
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defective toccata airbag. some of of these victims families cap recall notices got recall notices after the loved ones were killed. i got into this thing because there was a woman killed in orlando. it was a year ago. when the police got to the car they thought it was a homicide. they thought someone had slashed her throat and only afterwards do they find out that in fact this is what it was. and i got into it because of a firefighter that lives in the orlando area. he won't be one again because he lost his eye. and so i could go on and on about these incidents just
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in florida alone but the bottom line is we need to get these cars fixed and have been talking about this since last year. doctor rose kind has been a breath of fresh air and you have taken numerous actions to speed up the toccata recall process but it's a still faces deep challenges. for one thing has no doubt you will.out it is underfunded. automakers and the stakes as well as the carrots. it lacks to get the automakers to be forthcoming
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look how many deaths occurred from the gm defective steering ignition switches. gm had a defect for over a decade hundred 14 people died. for that mensa could only find gm a measly $35 million and that is less than 100,000 percent of what gm makes in the quarter. and that's and that's also appears to have serious internal and managerial issues. these challenges were detailed.
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the inspector general report released yesterday and revealed serious problems especially related to the handling of the gm crisis last year. and so i can tell you, you the senator is going to fight for additional funding. there also has to be accountability. the ig report found severe deficiencies in the ability to effectively collect and analyze safety data as well as conduct investigations. the agency lacks proper protocols and procedures and staff apparently are inadequately trained to do their job. we need accountability. and i look i look forward, doctor, to hearing how you intend to respond to this report that has now been put in the record and how you
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continue to modernize the agency. finally, i agency. finally, i look forward to hearing from the representatives at toccata. yesterday the staff issued a report detailing its initial findings. in a month-long investigation and for years it is obvious that toccata did not put safety first. it appears the common new or should have known as early as 2,001 for 14 years ago that there were serious safety and quality lapses in its airbag production process. you'd think they would've stepped up their safety efforts of these plants after discovering very people that internal e-mails suggest they actually suspended global safety
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audits from 09 to 11 for cost-cutting reasons. now the same company responsible for this disaster is the one making nearly all of their placement and facts for most of recalled vehicles. that doesn't sit well with a lot of americans. we need to get the recall completed and make sure the safety issues are spotted sooner so that dangerous vehicles are identified and fixed faster in order to do what were supposed to do
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which is help keep consumers safe. consumer safe. mr. chairman, if i sound that i am invested in this issue when i when i saw the pictures of that woman in orlando with her neck lacerated, i am invested. when i talked to the firefighter with his little boy with him that will never be a firefighter again because he does not have an eye to why am invested. thank you for calling the sharing clicks quick thank you, senator nelson. now proceed to our panel. please proceed. vice chairman, ranking member, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to provide an update on efforts to provide vehicle safety defects.
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the recall may represent the largest national consumer safety recall in history that it is certainly one of the most complicated. all of the actions of targeted in the only acceptable goal, safe airbag and every american vehicle. the secretary the secretary took a significant step toward this goal and announced toccata had filed for defect reports launching national recalls of an estimated 33.8 million defective airbag inflator's. eleven affected 11 affected auto manufacturers have made available individual vehicle identification number so that owners can go to safer conduct of an use the tool to determine if the vehicle is under recall. affected consumers should contact dealers as soon as possible and may request a loner a loner or rental vehicle while they wait for replacement. after reviewing automaker filings the current estimate is about 34 million defective airbags and 32 million affected vehicles
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there has been a consent order that gives them the ability to ensure adequacy of the remedy for the first time ever using authority provided by the tread act and other authorities according to were coordinated to have revenue programs to organize recall and remedy efforts. late last week late last week visit information requests were sent to affected automakers seeking information as part of a coordinated remedy program. in addition we have had discussions about a protective order that would allow companies to provide information so that confidentiality concerns do not interfere with safety efforts. in a separate action there in the process of determining whether fiat chrysler automobile is in violation of the safety act requirement to remedy defects adequately and have scheduled a july 2 hearing a july 2 hearing to examine 22
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recalls that affect 111 million vehicles. we are determined we are determined to use every tool available to protect the traveling public. one critical tool is self-evaluation. it's a was involved in tough self-examination after one of the most challenging years in the agency's history. on june 52 reports were released that were essential in our efforts to improve effectiveness. the first report provides the results of a a year-long due diligence review of deep investigation processes which found weaknesses and processes for identifying and addressing defects addressing weaknesses with improvements already underway and within existing resources. a second report is a workforce assessment of the details of the pres.'s presidents fy 16 budget request specifically requests the needs.
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we have concurred with all 17 of the report recommendations. from the ig audit underway before the artist release. two factors are essential to achieving the mission. the first is the concealment of critical safety information. if i can sum up in a single phrase it would be question assumptions and question our
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own assumptions. the second factor is available resources. eight that analyze a thousand consumer complaints and they continue to investigate scores of potential defects. the agency would accomplish this task the detailed adjustment for inflation 23 percent lower than ten years ago. the presidents fy 16 budget request will provide the people and technology needed to keep americans safe. the sec. has proposed to grow america act which would provide stable increased funding an important safety authorities. it is clear the gaps represent known safety
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risks. the members of this committee and colleagues in congress can help address those risk and keep the traveling public safe. thank you for the opportunity to testify an in valley forge your questions quick thank you. click's chairman, ranking member, members of the committee thank you for inviting me to discuss the vehicle safety oversight. as you know stronger oversight is critical for taking timely action such as the faulty ignition switch. this defect has been linked to more than 110 fatalities and 220 injuries. airbag non-deployments prompted the office of defect investigation to look at certain vehicles as early as 2007 but they ultimately determine an investigation was not warranted. we now know default the ignition switch can unexpectedly disabled vehicle power steering, brakes, and airbags. today i will discuss the weaknesses we identify relating to odi procedures for collecting and analyzing vehicle safety data and for determining which issues warrant further investigation.
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i will also show how the weaknesses we identified affected odi handling of the gm ignition switch defect. we identified three areas of weakness that undermine its efforts to identify and investigate vehicle safety concerns. first, odi lacks the procedures needed to collect complete and accurate vehicle safety data. the use of the early warning aggregate data is limited due to the inconsistencies in how manufacturers categorize safety incidents. guidance specifies 24 categories for reporting potential defects related to an average of over 15,000 vehicle components leading manufacturers to use broad discretion when reporting this data. consumer complaints, the primary source for identifying safety concerns similarly lacks information to correctly identify the vehicle systems involved due in large part to the lack of
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guidance to consumers. further, they do not adequately verify manufacturer data or take timely action to enforce manufacturer compliance with reporting requirements. second, odi does not follow standard statistical practices and analyzing early warning reporting data consequently, it cannot identify statistically significant trends or outliers that may indicate the safety issue should be pursued. in addition despite the in addition despite the volume of consumer complaints which averaged roughly 330 today in 2014 odi relies upon what initial screener in the first phase of its two-tiered screening process this process leaves the office vulnerable to a single.of failure and runs the risk of complaints with potential safety significance may not be selected for further review. inadequate training, the
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provision of screeners further increases the risk. third, they emphasize third, they emphasize investigating issues that are most likely to result in recalls which has blurred the line between pre- investigative and investigative duties. investigative duties such as research and engineering analysis work being performed during the pre- investigative stage often by screeners who are not trained to carry out these responsibilities. in addition, stakeholders have not reached consensus on the amount and type of information needed to open investigations. the lack of transparency and accountability in the investigation decision further undermines the efforts to identify new recalls another corrective action.
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of new consumer complaints but the airbag investigator noted a downward rate and the screener decided that the issue didn't present enough safety trend to warrant proposing another investigation. according to odi staff. they had a flawed understanding of airbag technology. they are taken aggressive action to strengthen the vehicle oversight. according to the administrator changes to the process have been implemented and more are underway.
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we plan to report our findings later this year and i would like to address those who have been injured and the family's of those who have been lost in crashes involving gm's defective switches. i promised you my staff and i would work relentlessly to determine what nhtsa knew of the defect, what it knew and what actions to took to address it. our auto report issued last week and my testimony today will fill that promise. i offer my deepest sympathy. this concludes my statement and i would be happy to answer any other statement you and others
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have. >> mr. rosekind i know you took the realm of nhtsa last year and have been working to improve the handling of the vehicle defects and i would say you have your work cut out for you. the inspector general's report reaches serious conclusions regarding the ability to defect vehicle defects highlighting things like failure to review information provided by consumer and industry botched data analysis inadequate training and supervision are major problems with the agencies. all of these have to concern you. we have to make sure automakers report safety violations it doesn't help if nhtsa's staff is not reviewing the information or when they do they are not imploring standard procedures. these processes can't be solved by throwing additional resources
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at the problem. my question is how do you propose to address these issues? >> thank you for acknowledgeing the challenges exist. we conquered with 17 recommendations that validate and are consistent with the reports reports. i would like to provide the committee with 44 actions underway that go to detailed action on each element from communication to case management to test to make sure everyone of those -- and i am highlighting we are doing 44. we will continue to look for every place possible to make changes. with that i think we will look for internal changes we can but what is critical about the report also, both outside the report to talk about the resources, so many people heard me discuss 80,000 complaints. we are literally looking at an
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individual screener having to have five reports analyzed every hour. each report takes an hour. so when the ig report says it is inadequate i agree and we have to change those. >> you identified three general concerns in the audit with the office of defects and investigation. in your opinion, what does nhtsa need most? more information? more expertise? or better pract analyzing the data they receive? >> i would say it is on nhtsa to press forward with the changes we outlined in the audit report and testimony today. very pleased to understand the administrator has conquered in all 17 of our recommendations and in fact in his response to our audit report last week indicated a very aggressive
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schedule signaling his intent to press forward. i understand the administrator's request for resources that ultimately represents a policy decision between the administration and congressism. i am aware of that and respect my role. i would have to say allocating more resources to an effort or agency whose processes are not in line in the first place doesn't seem like a good idea. we would urge the administrator to press forward with the aggressive timeline to address our recommendation as well as his own process in order to handle this. >> mr. rosekind you have recently taken unprecedented steps with regard to nhtsa's handling of the inflaters including a pres preservation
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ordermentorder. how does the agency plan to implement this program? >> it was this committee that helped focus the issue and the action needed. that all changed on may 19t. we went from denying the defect to acknowledging it with the consent order helping us e evaluate the remedy. there is more advance prior priortization. we have sent a letter outlining all of the information we need to determine how this has to proceed. the first meeting is scheduled for july 1 with each of those groups. there will be individual and group meetings through july with hope that august will take all of the information, put to together, and planning for a public hearing in september that would allow us to lay out the
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program which is complicated. >> and very quickly, mr. scovel can you discuss the difficulties receiving consumer complaint and how would clearer guidelines benefit the public. >> we would highlight a couple things for the committee's attention. first in the way nhtsa collects the data. data quality has to be an ultimate concern for the effort to identify vehicle safety defects because if that is not of the highest quality then defects will be missed and resources may be squandered. the accuracy and timelyness is essential. and data comes from a number of sources. the early reporting data from manufacturer needs to be improved. as we have shown and nhtsa has
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acknowledged, the categorizeing of the defects means the data quality is diffused and the best analyst would not be able to reach a proper conclusion on data that is not supportable. we also would note that, and i commend the administrator for his attention to that and remarks of them intending to follow-up with manufacturers more often. in our interviews of every employee in the office of defects and representative of each contractors that work in that effort we learned from the highest sources in that office that they generally implore what he calls an honor system to determine whether manufacturers are meeting the requirement for the early reporting data. for a safety regulator to they can that approach sir we think
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is not keeping the best interest of the public in mind. consumer complaints mr. chairman, which has been the primary source for nhtsa to identify safety concerns are also diffused have been watered down in affect because of a lack of guidance from the agency to consumers who were seeking to report accidents and defects through the agency. but they will find themselves at a loss when con firming on the website 18 different category codes in a vehicle that has 15,000 components and they themselves are not automotive experts. some consumers are going to get it wrong. many others the most well meaning and those who have been impacted by vehicle safety defects, will read the data and attempt to follow it as best as they are able to.
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the agency performance will improve as a result. >> senator nelson. >> you know, there is a pattern here among these regulatory agencies that are supposed to be looking out for the consumer. we saw this about ten years ago with a consumer product safety commission when we had all of that chinese drywall problem the defective chinese toys and no forth, and theyed a card table was their research department, we are hearing stuff about the agency we are trying to sort out. tell me, mr. rosekind you came up with 33.8 million vehicles to be recalled on this tekata matter. how did you come up with that number? >> so our estimate is that there are about 34 million
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inflaters that are defective. and they are in about 32 million vehicles. so that is acknowledgment that come vehicles have driver and passenger airbags that need to be replaced. it includes some cars have remedies they need to come back again. that is why 34 million inflaters in 32 million vehicles. >> do you have the vehicle identification number for all of those? >> they have been provided by all 11 manufacturer at this point.
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>> we will be giving a list of everything we are discussing but it is an ongoing investigation. we cannot start looking. i am give you 44 areas and if you want i would rather give you the list for the moment. but part of it has to be that list and ongoing evaluation to make sure we are improving the process and doing it better. >> i want to suggest one area. in this odni as the inspector general has talked about, you get about 80,000 complaints each year yet there is one person
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that person who spends four hours a day on this would have to review process and follow on and flag over 80 complaints an hour and that is less than one complaint a minute. so how in the world can you get it done? >> you can't. and that is why i agree the ig's report. it specifically called out the scanning of those reports inadequate. it is. and that is a resource issue. you have too many complaints and not enough people. that is a triaug point to get it somewhere else. -- >> i will yield the rest of my
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time. >> senator mccaskill is up next. >> thank you, chairman and senator nelson for your focus on this issue. as chairman and the ranking member know we did a lot of hearing around the gm recall and the nhtsa. i want to begin with safety. honda confirmed that the eighth death linked to a faulty airbag in company, this was a rental car from sunset rental car in san diego that never made the repairs after the recall. there is legislation that would prohibit a rental car from being rented until open safety recalls are in fact remedied. we have support of the rental car industry consumer and safety advocates and insurance companies and general motors but
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unfortunately many automanufacturers are blocking this legislation through the alliance of automobile manufacturers. they are saying they should only be grounded if there is a do not drive. have any of the 11 manufacturers issued a do not drive recall related? >> not that i am aware of and annual that is small. >> what about nhtsa? do you support the efforts we have going on to ground rental cars that haven't been prepared? >> absolutely. >> i would like to put the american car rental association and consumer safety's written statement for the record if i might. >> without objection. >> i want to go to this audit and my colleagues are patient because i am an audit weirdo.
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i used to read this and calvin scovel knows i happen somebody who assumes these things. this audit report is one of the worst i have ever seen in terms of government agencies. the reason it is so bad -- i agree calvin scovel this isn't about resources. this office report is the first i've for scene. the reason it is so bad this is about blatant incompetence. the list goes through one of many miss comings. went to open an investigation. if they are clear that investigation is open, we might as well shut it down there are three factors to be considered in an investigation. severity of potential safety issues and root cause.
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based on the interviews the inspector general did there's debate over when an investigation can even be opened. they said severity must be established. the division chief and the director does not think a root cause is necessary and want to focus on safety issues. you've got key personnel within the agency that aren't even on the same page about when an investigation should occur. i assume you are getting busy on this with baby steps before you get to all the other problems that are in this office.
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>> that's one of the actions we are taking. >> do you believe that everyone that works there knows and there is a clear understanding about what the issues are? >> i think clarifications are needed. >> on average only four times a year over the past four years has the request been made for the report. four times per year. that to me is stunning. although you have the authority
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with early warning requirements, the agency has never used this authority. never used the authority to inspect manufacturer compliance. listen, i think you. listen, i think you're doing your best and you understand the severity of the situation before you. i was shocked when i read this ig i read this ig report, how bad it was. i knew it was bad when the active director before you didn't even know you had the power. power. we discovered that in the previous hearing. were going to be watching very carefully the kind of work you do immediately and i disagree with my colleague, i'm not about to give you more money until i see meaningful progress on reforming the internal processes in this organization. organization. you can't start throwing money until you have a system in place that will make this agency
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functioning functional like it's supposed to. thank you for your work it's very illuminating. it's not fair to blame you for all this, i think you are trying as hard as you can. we have a long way to go and i certainly hope we would do a follow-up every four to six months to see how they are doing on the ig list. i think the driving public deserves so much that are. thank you mr. chairman. >> thank you for holding this hearing. i think it's incredibly important that we follow up and have hearings for something like this when major things happen with takada and gm. the airbags were susceptible for ruptures in regions of high humidity area. i called on them to extend the recall nationally and they finally complied for certain driver and passenger airbags. one of the individuals affected
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by takada airbags is now permanently injured. she was a passenger in a car in a minor fender bender and she is now permanently blind. what tools does she need to compel companies to act sooner? >> resources related to personnel and authority. other safety agencies within the dot have imminent hazard. hazard. if a hazard was identified we would've been able to take the could takada airbags out. with that then be out. with that then be established by law? >> yes you congress have to provide that to the agency. >> with the daily penalties for failing to fully respond to the special order help in getting them to act? >> act?
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>> yes and i think what you're pointing out is we were able to find the maximum per day but on the list of authority that were looking for, that's another for, that's another one. the maximum penalty is 35 million were looking for 300 million. last month they filed an intent to open a program to consider whether they need to replace these airbags and how they organize and prioritize the recall program? how is this going to ensure that vehicles that are most at risk are replaced first? >> that's why we sent out information letters to all 11 manufacturers and suppliers tiered we are collecting information so we can we are collecting information so we can put a plan together to do just that. they've talked about an accelerated remedy but that means coordinating and prioritizing and making sure people in the areas that have been identified for risk which has to do with age and location.
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that has to be done as soon location. that has to be done as soon as possible. >> switching to the gm issue which you are also aware of the case where a female passenger was riding in her friends in a chevy cobalt and the power went out. it bailed ahead at 71 miles out. it bailed ahead at 71 miles per hour. natosha and another passenger was killed when it ran into. the state trooper conducted an investigation into the crash that clearly made the defective connection switch and the airbags failure to the ploy. the two front seat airbags did not deploy. the ignition switch had been changed from run to accessory.
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we know this is troubling and in december i asked you what concrete changes you would implement to improve the consumer complaint process. i would like to know what system has been put in place to ensure that if the office of defect investigation investigators are in possession of critical information like trooper young's report, i would like some assurance. >> i will start by acknowledging this committee, whether it's your opening statement or the fact that each of you talked about the tragedies that are going on, it is on it is so critical to know that these are real people that are being affected. so thank you all for doing that. i would say specifically we did talk about this in my confirmation hearing and we have new systems that are already in place such as a case management system that allows crash investigators and the panels to look at this information from
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multiple sources all in one place. it's an attempt to basically connect those dots of the people who are working on this have all the available information. >> there were about 260 complains over an 11 year. that they have turned off while they were driving. somehow over those 11 years those dots weren't connected. as you said there's been a change, but how does that change really work? >> were talking about panels and screeners that now have access to all the information previously. there could be an update to the information in the person responsible will get an alert that there's been updated information. now you have more data and new data gets put in one place. >> thank you very much. i'll probably have some more questions for the record, but thank you very much. >> next up is the ranking member on consumer protection. i'd like to recognize senator blumenthal to thank you very
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much mr. chairman. i want to express my appreciation for having this hearing today which i know reflects your own interest in caring about the subject with your distinguished colleague from florida. thank you for your eloquent and powerful statement. i want to pursue some of the lines of questioning that have been raised and reflect the real-life consequences. as you just said just to show you first one of the airbags that actually bears the mark of the exploding treads of metal that injured eight people and they were killed. the real fault is not with the airbag. there's no blood on the airbag. some may say there's blood on
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the hands of the executives who covered up the devastating deadly effects of these explosions. the fault is really with the inflator because it contained a substance that caused this explosion. the question for takada today is whether these devices are any safer than they were when they killed eight people. the evidence may well show that these inflator's are as dangerous today as they were when takada first learned that they were potential killers.
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that was as early as 2004 and 2006. they are as dangerous today and should be revamped and revised in a basic design and structure. to caught a has not yet done that. the number of deaths recorded so far is eight. i feel that number is a lot like the number 13 that was first acknowledged by gm. it's caused by its defective and action switch. we now know that number is at least 117 because gm established that fun only after others on this committee called them to do it. that number of eight may well grow. it may be only the tiny fractional tip of the iceberg of
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deaths that were caused by these exploding airbags. i believe, as has been stated, that this report is a a searing devastating indictment of an agency that was responsible for protecting the public. let's not forget the responsibility of our of executives who could have and should have fully disclosed and then protected their customer from these devastatingly devices. i think that record of cover-up and concealment is one of the low points in corporate conduct and it represents the need to strengthen not only the agency that you had we need to
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strengthen that agency not strangle it. we need to provide more resources and funds, not cut but a cop is only as good as the legal tool. cop is only as good as the laws that are enforced. i have proposed along with my colleague a collection of new laws that will strengthen your legal tool. we can use all the rhetoric we want in conferences and public four-run but the rhetoric is no good without action and institutional change that give you the tools you need. so for example eliminating the cap on penalties. not just raising them but
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eliminating the caps for nondisclosure. the early warning reporting act that will give you the mandate to establish a database that's useful to consumers so they can take action. the automaker accountability as well as criminal penalties imposed not only on the company but the executives when they cover up the defect. as my colleague said, rental car companies need to be held accountable, but also used car dealers. at least one of these takada deaths is a result of a used car and very often the manufacturers and the dealers simply can't find the present owner of a car because he or she has bought it
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as a used car. automobile manufacturers in new car dealers are required to repair recalls under current law but there's no requirement for used car dealers to fix any outstanding safety defects before selling a used car. this gap puts people at risk. so, i think there are a number of preventive actions that can be taken and not the least of them is that any d defect must be disclosed. i hope to revive the sunshine act again with this challenge. i want to know from you whether you will join me in seeking
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these basic fundamental reform. that will be important so that we can claim as much as we want for the failures of the past. there have been deadly failures but repairing the system and reforming it should be our concern. we need to address these problems with new legislations to give you new tools so there is real institutional change. >> i just want to surface in and say thank you. what you have seen over the last month to use all the tools and resources and authorities available to us. if we don't have that we can't do our job. we job. we will support and provide any technical assistance to help with those new authorities.
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>> you need more resources, do you not? >> absolutely. >> in fact the faa said something like 30 times your budget and 6000 employees compared to your 90. is that not a glaring deficiency ? does it not reflect the lack of investment in your agency and safety of our road and drivers? with under 500 deaths they have over 6000 safety professionals working with 6000 safety professionals working with that number. in the rail industry they have under ten and they have close to 700 professionals working on it and in 2013 we had 32719 lives lost on our roadway and we have 90 people dealing with those. if our airplane and airspace were as dangerous as our cars and our roads, corporate
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officials would be indicted and there will be sweeping changes in the airline industry. dramatic crashes is perhaps what enables the drip by drip, crash by crash tragedy that have been detailed here. this nation has to make the kind of investment in your agency that it has made in the airspace. >> we have a vote going on and if you want to proceed and if you can, i'd like to wrap this first panel up as quickly as possible. i will go vote and if we get to the end and people want to ask questions we can recess and come back and pick up. >> thank you mr. chairman, senator blumenthal and i have a
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bill, the early bill the early warning reporting system that requires automakers to automatically get more documents about potentially defective cars and requires nyssa to then make more of that information available to the public so they can protect itself. we can't get back the 117 lives that were lost in the gm ignition switch defect in the eight people who died from the takada exploding airbag but you do have, the authority to implement many of the authority to implement many of the changes that the bill requires. you can take permanent measures, even without a new law to put information about fatal defects into the hands of the public in case the analysts failed to spot
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the next major defect. you can look at the families because of these defects and you can tell them you did everything you could to make sure their lives were lost in vain. will you call for a rulemaking to require automakers to provide the early warning document that alert them to potentially fatal defects and to have them make the information public? >> the agency and i will do everything we can with the transparency of the agency to try to make that information available. numerous examples were already raised. if the information was available that would help stabilize. we will look at that make sure our current legal requirements and confidentially i wouldn't impede that. >> will you do a rulemaking in
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order to make sure there's a formalized process to ensure that the information goes to the agency and then the agency discloses it to the public so they can protect themselves? >> i i will commit to looking at what shape that can look like knowing our legal restrictions that we have related to confidentiality. >> will you do a rulemaking consistent with the privacy acts and confidential proprietary information to ensure through the rulemaking that any information that you can make public will be made public? and that the auto industry will be forced to give you that information. will you conduct a rulemaking to achieve that law? >> i will determine that whatever we can do for transparency i'll determine
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whether a rulemaking is even needed. >> well, so you will do everything then that is allowed by law to ensure that the auto industry will provide you with the information about defects and they will then release that information? you will do everything that is allowed by existing law? >> law? >> that's what we will look into and make sure we can provide that transparency. >> you're saying you do not need a rulemaking in to accomplish that goal? >> that's what i need to look at. >> will you do a rulemaking if one is required after you determine the scope of your authority will you do a rulemaking if it's necessary? >> if evaluation shows that rulemaking would be necessary for transparency, yes. >> i think that's very important. that will really give the information to the public, which they need. if people public, which they need. if people can go online, buy a
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car and be able to go online to determine if that car has any defects which could harm our family member. the sooner you put it online, the sooner you put that information up and the sooner you get that information out there the more countable the industry will be. the consumers will be king. be. the consumers will be king. they will be protected in their family. they will be able to ensure that any successor is accountable in ensuring that that information is made public bill is one that says it's a used car that may have a recall. that actually ensures that there is a replacement part. but the person that purchased the car really doesn't know about it. so our bill would require that when the owner registers the cars they are made aware of the safety defects and that those
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repairs are made. would you support that? >> it would be the touch points to get that informed. we talk about it because at this point there is no sense of the technology to do that and making sure that the consumers basically don't have any negative effects. so it could be that su the cost of procedures etc. and making sure that the consumers basically don't have any negative effects from a defect by manufactures so it's a touch point that could be used and agri america where suggesting pilot programs to work the technology and cost procedures out to figure out who we can go nationally. >> thank you. i'm doing heavy lifting right now with the gavel so senator peterson. >> thank you. appreciate the panel suited in your testimony.
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administrator rosekind i hear you when you say nissen needs help in that agency is going to be able to deliver effective oversight for vehicle safety when congress needs to consider increasing your funding as well as having stable funding so you can modernize your systems and technical experts and enhance the opposite defects investigation but before that happens i am sure you know very well that you must prove that your agency can do this effectively and have in place of procedures that can ensure the work is done in a timely manner and you know as well as anybody time is of the essence. the more time that elapses oftentimes it means more deaths as a result of the problems. i personally see the progress that the auto industry is making to develop new technologies focused on collision avoidance and mitigation. these new developments will make
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traveling on our nation's roads safer, much smarter and energy-efficient and at the same time less congested. congress i believe needs to do his part to promote these policies that will help us usher in this new age in this new era of safety and mobility in the first step should be to ensure that nasa has the resources to not only address the major issues that it's facing today and one in particular with airbags but encourage the development of these new technologies that have the potential to save thousands of lives in the future. it will be difficult to secure this funding and the ability to move this incredible technology forward if folks like myself and members of congress are not confident their resources are going to be deployed in an effective manner and as the ig report is made clear there is a considerable amount of work to do. mr. rosekind this recall you are involved in right now is an unprecedented scare. you have introduced a number of
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programs to do this. you have told the committee that the 17 recommendations of the ig which reiterate many the findings of your own internal report and how you anticipate the agency being able to implement these recommendations before the end of the year. can you say this can adequately coordinate this recall you were in the middle of right now and implement these reforms without more funding from congress? >> we are to have that plan in place. we have to affect this recall with current resources. >> that will be an opportunity to rest to see the effectiveness of your agency to be able to use these resources to be able to do this in an expedited way. >> correct. >> to mr. scovel you have identified an alarming lack of transparency and accountability. the division workforce and viamente technical expertise and as mentioned earlier you have
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mentioned here you delivered 17 recommendations and nhtsa has concurred. you have provided action steps taken to make changes but based on intimate knowledge of this agency as a result of your work. you believe this agency is capable of making these changes and how long do you think it will take? >> thank you senator. i would hold the administrator to his word. when he responded to our report indicated not only concurrence but aggressive intent in a relatively short timeframe dealing with similar reports and other modes of the department of transportation. clearly the burden is on the agency at this point to make good on its promises to reform its processes so that it may then come to congress and back to the american people saying we are prepared to handle what we have and by the way we may be able to do an even better job
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showed us a policy matter we are accorded more resources. right now sir the burden is on the administrator. >> you have set a very aggressive timeline of one year. again bass enhancement knowledge you have a lot of experience with a lot of agencies. is that a realistic timeframe? >> i would say that the administrators on timeline which we endorse. we are hopeful. we will birddogger these recommendations in the implementation as carefully as we have anything else in our long history of providing oversight to the regulatory agencies. >> i will be with you working closely. that has been my frustration when you sometimes get recommendations from the ig there is lip service but never follow through and on one year turns into two years and three years and in the case of the
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work of this agency these are people's lives at stake and we need to have a robust regulator that is able to help us in the industry in this country to move to more dramatic safety improvements with the technologies that are coming forward so i look forward to working with both of you gentlemen and thank you so much. >> senator thank you. mr. rosekind looks like you and i are going to have a one-on-one conversation and mr. scovel not because i don't appreciate your work and i appreciate both witnesses being here and it's my understanding that we will have more members back after they get back from the floor so hopefully if not we will go to recess until they do. i want to talk a little bit about this gap and consumer protection that others are talking about. last saturday i dropped my daughter's car off at the dealership. i usually do most of the work myself.
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my father owned the automotive business. it was an independent auto repair service and so the question becomes if you are the second owner, third owner fourth owner for a particular vehicle when i went to the dealership to set dealership have an obligation to tell me if there is a recall on that particular make and model? >> they do not. that's part of our growth america authority request is to get that independent, if you go new car dealer they should do that for you automatically. >> so they are not obligated to do that. if you go to a new car dealership today are they obligated on the service maintenance contract that you made have with them to tell their is a recall? >> they should be doing that for you up. >> are they required? because i did ask and they gave me the answer and i've always question it but i don't know that i've ever been to
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dealership where i drop the car off where they told me and maybe they don't have to unless you have a recall so i'm not putting that into question. you are saying if i take that vehicle instead to a jiffy lube they wouldn't be obligated to tell me if there was a recall of of. gas station none of them are responsible. >> that's correct. >> how is that going to change? >> and grow america we are going to change that so everybody not just the new car manufactures put all those independents would be required to run that check. >> if your tendency is to bring your car into an independent station what is your alternative to know about the recall? >> we are recommending that everybody on a regular basis even weekly go to safer card.gov and look up your vin number. >> so you are an 18-year-old girl. you think they will go to safer
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card.gov? >> no way. >> i guarantee my daughter wouldn't. so there is the gap. how do you protect, and i'm apparent that math know you are parent too and happy father's day. how do you protect that child has a parent that represents everybody here in this room how do you protect that child knowing that they will go to safer card.gov. i will but i guess a better question is what percentage of americans have never even heard of safer card.gov corrects. >> that's a good question i'm actually going to find that out. but we are with you especially last year there so much discussion about recall fatigue and how much information is out there. people know where to go. it's a huge problem so one of the things we have on our list underway is creating a national campaign. nhtsa is the one who runs click
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it or ticket. >> it works by the way. >> we want to to to use that same effectiveness to go after this issue. it's great to come here for us to announce safer card.gov but we have to figure out how to fill those gaps. >> i'm going to stop by questioning but thank you for your hard work both of you. i will turn it over to senator daines at this point. >> thank you senator heller. i truly am grateful this committee is highlighting the safety challenges of takata airbags that have killed eight people however there are other recalls that i believe need attention and further underscores nhtsa's lack of efficacy. last summer there was a fire truck, 2002 model and international model 4800 that the front axle ball and socket
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seized and caused a chassis to break and sees the left front wheel. it's coming down highway 12 just outside of helena montana between my hometown of boozman and i drive this all the time. it was during daylight hours and the weather conditions were fine fine. this fire truck veered into incoming traffic and the volunteer fire chief in the truck was killed in a very violent head-on collision and there was a family of five mom and dad and three small children in a pickup who were also killed. when i drive back and forth and in fact i went by the accident site just days after it happened and you could see the tire marks and a straightaway but this horrible collision. there are six white crosses standing by the side of the highway where that occurred. this particular front drive
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shaft has been recalled and approximately 500 vehicles with notifications being mailed this month. this accident occurred on june 19 of last year. so the notifications went out just in the last 10 days a year after the accident. it turns out this exact component was a nhtsa approved solution to a previous recall that occurred in 2003. with that as a background dr. rosekind the recent oig report frequently makes references to the defects, the lack of process, the procedures and data analysis contained in these reports which i have looked over. they have made 17 recommendations to odi to improve early warning rep porting data improve data
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verification processes and do external reviews and evaluates staff training needs amongst other recommendations. unfortunately this is not the first time many of these recommendations have been made. the oig highlighted similar issues and made similar recommendationsy question is how they declared a safety recall two months after the accident. they moved quickly in the interim solution. 12 months after the final recall is being sent into and a solution is being executed. you mentioned in the testimony of the automaker's response ability to remedy the defects of compliments. my question is why is it taking a year for something like this and whether the science and engineers to expedite the solution to mitigate the safety risks for of my question is why is it taking a year for something like this and what are the nhtsa scientists and engineers doing to expedite the solutions to
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mitigate the safety risk to all americans? >> i said this earlier and i don't think you can say it enough, this committee -- the tragedy of those lives lost so we personalized a human face to every one of these tragedies. what you are highlighting is something we emphasize. identifying defects is fine. if you were -- if they are not remedied you still have the risk and part of the challenge is basically making sure in a timely manner a permanent solution is in place. so i've just learned about this and you can count on me going back to figure out exact to the specifics more than you are telling me now to see what's going on. >> i would appreciate that. it's the face of innocence here turning back to montana it was a nice summer evening in a straightaway and you see this young couple the kids in the back of a pickup and it's a road
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i drive all the time. it was just the innocence of the lives lost that is so troubling but importantly could this have been prevented? that is the question looking at the process and procedures and the speed in which the remedies are put in place. part of that is commonly times of nhtsa had more than one recall on the same vehicle component. i would appreciate looking into that repeat recall so we can convert these tragedies. general maintained stats on how often the components are recall it more often than once. it is something to look at in
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our current audits are focused on the pre-investigative phase. >> i might suggest something to look at because that's looking at the process and the systemic challenges that exist today with the goal preventing these tragedies from ever happening again and the pain these families have now, the pain never goes away. nhtsa's office of defects investigation has had over at decade to implement numerous recommendations from your office. whatwhat do you you see the challenge on why it's taking so long to implement? >> senators some of those recommendations were tailored for the circumstances and the programs we were examining at the time. for example the reports you reference where you are examining nhtsa's ability to the requirements of the newly-elected tread act.
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they were looking at the investigative phase primarily of nhtsa's operations and in the current audit we were looking at the pre-investigative phase so i don't want to be to sound overly like i'm overly parsing this but we are trying to dissect each and every phase of nhtsa safety operation with the idea of being able to come and what's going on right, find out what's going on wrong and make effective recommendations to improve. our recommendations in this case all concurred by the agency very aggressive timeline for the implementation. we believe it can be implemented and attacked with current resources. i think that the agency's intent intent. most commendable on their part. what dr. rosekind is attempting to do in our estimation is to change the investigational culture of nhtsa. at least the defects investigation and resolution
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part of the operation. >> i spent 28 years in business before i took this different day job on the hill and they always say it's what you inspect and not what you expect and the importance of clear metrics. i think there should be one it looks like perhaps speed in terms of how quickly are we going from an accident to action in the field that has been correcting the defect rate it seemed like when nanostar was in the field within two months why did it take the federal agency a year? there is a 10 month gap there. >> i think you are talking about safety steps that can be taken by way of corrective action or by way of recall. remember again if you will our current audit focused on the
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pre-investigative phase. we did get to the timing element of that part of nhtsa's effort. our audit report not so much our statement today better auto report released at the end of last week did discuss at some length link of time it took for investigative proposal to be evaluated assessed and decided within the opposite defects investigation. that's a key step is you're never going to get to a possible correct faction or recall at least in a position to be influenced by an nhtsa unless you can improve the valuation decision stage. we found one instance where investigative proposal language five months months recently been last year. another one had been on the books for more than a year without resolution. there is a circuitous pattern for a valuation and discussion within the opposite defects investigation of some of these
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investigative proposals. but again to pick up on dr. rosekind's opening remarks at this point question assumptions. one of the assumptions that desperately must be questioned is how can we speed up the decision loop so that we can get to the decision to investigate sooner and hopefully upon investigation get to a decision on correct action. >> i appreciate in ensuring there are more -- it just seems as though we are staying at the gap there and i appreciate your efforts as well to change the culture to look at ways we can move faster and the senator and the chairmen have just returned here. mr. chairman i'm going to turn it back to you but thank you for your thoughtful comments. >> thank you to the senator of montana are residing here while
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[inaudible conversations] >> we want to welcome our second panel of witnesses this morning. thank you for being here for your testimony. i'm going to hand it off for opening statements. we have with us the executive vice president of north america for takata mr. scott kunselman the senior vice president of vehicle safety and regulatory compliance with chrysler formerly known as chrysler group and mr. rick schostek has the executive vice president or honda north america so i'm going to ask if we could my right if you will proceed with your testimony and then we will go from there and if you can
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confine it to is close to five minutes as possible and take it from there. mr. kennedy. [inaudible] >> i'm sorry. is it on now? my apologies. chairman thune ranking member nelson and establishment of the committee and honored to be here on behalf of takata and our employees throughout the united states. for takata safety is the core of what we do and who we are. we are proud that takata airbags have saved thousands of lives and prevented serious injuries in hundreds of thousands of accidents. it is unacceptable to us for even one of our products failing to perform as intended. we deeply regret each instance in which someone has been injured or killed. we will do everything in our power to adjust the safety
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concerns raised by airbag ruptures. our chairman met twice with administrator rosekind and made that commitment personally. that is why after months of testing and extensive analysis would voluntarily read with nhtsa to take broad action in conjunction with the automakers to respond to your concerns and those of the public. our agreement with nhtsa contemplates dramatically expanded recalls including national recalls going well beyond the scope of the risks suggested by the science and the testing. based on more than 57,000 test overturned inflators after years of research by leading experts from around the world are best current judgment is that the rapture issues are related to long-term exposure over many years to persisting conditions of high heat and high absolute humidity. some inflators these issues may involve intentional
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manufacturing and vehicle specific factors. most feel ruptures have involved over inflators in the region of high heat and absolute humidity. all analysis to date indicates the potential for ruptures limited to extremely small fraction of inflators. that's why takata safety related defect may arise in some but the inflators. not all of the inflators covered by the recalls for defective but even one ruptures too many sewer ribadu program is much broader. most of the injuries and all of the fatalities in the u.s. involved driver side airbag inflators that featured the back wing shape propellant. we have agreed to replace all of the batwing driver inflators from the start of production through the end of production and in a vehicle registered anywhere in the united states. these recalls will proceed in
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stages and the final stage will include the replacement of that wing and inflators previously installed as remedy parts. we are ceasing production of the batwing and inflators altogether altogether. there've been far fewer feel ruptures involving passenger side airbags nevertheless our agreement with nhtsa contemplates significantly expanded recalls for passenger airbag employers. to support these recalls are total production of replacement kits for north america will soon reach 1 million per month. we have on and said our capacity to produce replacement kits by including inflators made by other suppliers. we are investing in innovation and working with our automaker customers to develop the range of new inflator products. at the same time the qatar continues to serve its customers using stabilized ammonium nitrate propellant which has distinct safety benefits over at
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sterger propellants. we have old confidence in the safety of these products. we are using tech elegies in response to the recalls. the process of qualifying new products takes time and for certain types of airbags in certain vehicle models the best solution today is to use existing technologies in place of the original unit. we agree with nhtsa that is absolutely the right response to public safety concerns not to wait but to replace an older unit with a new inflator. doing so provides an important safety benefit. we have agreed with nhtsa to do ongoing testing to verify the state the and the service life of these remedy parts. they need to be replaced in the future we will act before the potential of risk of rupture develops. we are also supporting the testing work of the automakers in nhtsa as well as the work of independent quality assurance panel led by former secretary of transportation sam scovel and we
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will work with the makers to get the word out to consumers to maximize the recall completion rates. we will continue to do all we can to ensure safety and keep you in the public updated on our progress. thank you mr. chairman. >> thank you mr. kennedy. mr. kunselman. >> chairman thune ranking member nelson and members of the committee thank you for the opportunity to appear today and provide an update on this important matter. my name is scott kunselman and i'm the senior vice president had a vehicle safety and regulatory compliance at formerly chrysler. i lead an organization with a mission of safeguarding our customers, emission we embrace with passion. as you know our involvement with takata airbags is extensive proactive and ongoing. today's automobiles are among the most sophisticated and complex consumer goods on the
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market. .. and consumers. we look forward to continuing this collective engagement with takata and nhtsa to address the critical situation related to the inflators. we've remained actively engaged since i spoke with the committee last november. much has transpired since that time through multiple campaign expansions and based on the information from both takata and nhtsa they are on the process of recalling 4.8 million inflators across the united states. we are taking actions determining the raptors
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