dr. martinez. i served at the institute of electrical and electronic engineers. it is significant that dr. martinez got the ball rolling back in 1998, and we have had a decade of progress, we have a standard for preventive recorders. this to a few minutes ago, he mentioned that just canal, the consumer protection part of this, if nhtsa sides to mandate it, -- decides to mandate it, there may be a consumer backlash. i would like to ask dr. martinez what he thinks about the initiatives so far and what does he think -- how could ieee help nhtsa in the future? >> when people think black box, they get the wrong idea. this is like a five second refreshen buffer. it does not say if you were drinking or if somebody should to be there. it just gets a vehicle information. with some protection put in, it helps allays some of those fears. you either give the data to somebody like you when you get your car fixed, and you give it to your insurance company and put a claim in, or it turns out there is a legal discovery process. we take your car anyway and maybe come up with the

dr. martinez? >> well, you know, it is true. at general motors, we first learned about the chip onboard from general motors. we did a crash investigation that cost us $14,000. very concerned. the gentleman had almost pulled out to seat belt. we figured there was a defect. we calculated $14,000. a 22-26-mile-per-hour crash. this thing shouldn't fail. general motors, it turn out the crash was 56 miles an hour. we said where did you do that? we have to put this information in. general motors has always allowed and i think ford, too, to allow anybody to download the information. the other companies, some have said this is proprietary information. they could talk about things like whether they had the brake on or not and speed and things like that. . sh re been concerns about the integrity of the box. if you look at the emergency medical service providers, they say they can do a better job at determining whether someone is injured or not. the national academy of sciences, and just a few weeks ago put out some basic standards that sho

dr. martinez really worked on passage of something in 2006 requiring

dr. martinez. also dr. runge and dr. martinez. i served at i think it is significant that dr. martinez got the ball rolling back in 1998. we have had a decade of progress. just a few minutes ago, the doctor mentioned that there is not a consumer protection part of this. it if it's a decides to mandate it, the american public -- if not set decides to mandate it, the american public will know what is available. otherwise, there will be consumer backlash. i would like to ask dr. martino what he thinks about the initiative so far. how could it help the agency in the future? >> one of the things was trying to make sure that there are protections in there. when you say black box, people get the wrong opinion. they think is tracking or you go. it really only gets a vehicle information. it is not say what the roads are like or whether you are drinking. it basically gets vehicle information. it will be a big help there. with some of the protections that have been put in, it will allay some of those fears. when you talk to people and you say, the data is yours. there are only three ways

dr. martinez were talking about, they talked about saving lives. it is lower than it was in 1954. they really are making vehicles safer. that is a time when the number of drivers have actually doubled, so there is n nhtsa as a success story -- has a success story here. >> there's an expectation that this is an electronic issue, not necessarily a pedal defect as toyota has said. if it is an electronic issue, to electronic companies need to come forward with their software codes and tell the public the safety administration how the cars work? >> i was in the presence of the -- i was on the technology committee that oversaw an asset and the department of defense, so i would tell you the solid state technology is far more reliable than the mechanical systems with that in the past. if you look at the innovations that are occurring today, specially those the consumers have been, but also the regulators. we worked with the administration to -- you need electronics in order to accomplish that. the reliability requirements is 99.99 is not been met in the federal government or other industr

dr. ricardo martinez, former head of nhtsa from 1994 to 1999. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> dr. jeffrey runge, could i get your reaction to the fine that nhtsa is seeking against toyota -- $16.40 million? >> if the evidence points to the fact that toyota was withholding information from regulators and the public it is appropriate. that fine level is relatively new. it is a new authority from the tread act that was passed in response to the ford at firestone issue -- the ford firestone issue. before that, the fine was down in the hundreds of thousands. we were the first ones to cross that million dollar barrel. ford was slow to report a windshield wiper defect that was a safety threat. going to $16 million, to the full extent of the law, sends a message to the industry that they are serious. >> i read one critics saying that "toyota embarrassed the agency and that is where this is coming from." what do you think? >> the agency's mission oriented. it does not have all of the tools it might need. it is usually outgunned by the global

dr. ricardo martinez, who was nhtsa administrator for president clinton. in our last hour, we will get the auto industry perspective with dave mccurdy, and end with clarence ditlow. starting as off is dave shepardson of "detroit news." many people saw the headline -- regulators seeking a fine of $16.40 million against toyota. the statement said "if upheld." why does it say that? >> toyota gets to formally denied decide whether it wants to appeal the fine. this is by far the largest ever find that nhtsa has sought to impose. the previous was $1 million against general motors in 2004. the amounts are symbolic, given that these are companies with hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue. $16 million is a rounding error for them. >> what happens next? have you heard from toyota? if it goes to court, how long would the process take? >> toyota has two weeks to respond and say they will pay the fine or challenge it. nhtsa has to decide if it is going to uphold the fine. if toyota continues to challenge it, they will go to the district court to get a job to upho

dr. ricardo martinez. first, we want to show more testimony from the current administrator at a house oversight subcommittee last month, where he was questioned by two congressmen about nhtsa oversight and current subpoena power. >> there have been a lot of articles written -- a lot of testimony recently that nhtsa has not fulfilled its responsibility, that nhtsa is the lap dog for the industry not a watchdog. there has been a lot of criticism out there about the agency. as the administrator, how would you respond to that in a general way? do you think that criticism is valid? >> it is not valid at all. we have been a very active agency since i have taken office. it has been very active since secretary lahood has taken office. this agency opened eight separate investigations over the time. when there were complaints about sudden acceleration. a lap dog does not open eight investigations. the goal is for us and our statutory order is to find any vehicle safety defect that presents an unreasonable risk. anyt

martinez. >> i remember my grandparents from the first floor. >> dr. charles hubert. raymond johnson. my mother, ms. levy. >> thomas hawthorne. robert vernon. sheryl mannon. ethel griffin. margaret gibson. >> laura -- >> ashley eckel. >> catherine kragen. >>>> my mother-in-law, carroll bowers. cassandra booker. alita bitty. towson battel. sandy avery. pamela argo. richard allen. teresa alexander. >> thank you, all. thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for being with us today. your presence means a locked on this 15th anniversary. -- means a lot on this 50th anniversary. admission to the museum is complementary provided five -- provided by our friends at cox to medications. but iran, secretary hippolyta llano -- secretary the awill hol on the media's role on terrorism. thank you. [applause] >> on washington journal, tomorrow morning, how americans feel about government. our guest is carolina doherty, patrick corvington and kenneth vogel will take your questions about political fund raising her head"washington journal -- fundraising. all this month, see the winners of the c-span's studentca

martinez. >> i remember my grandparents from the first floor. >> dr. charles hubert. raymond johnson.er, ms. levy. >> thomas hawthorne. robert vernon. sheryl mannon. ethel griffin. margaret gibson. >> laura -- >> ashley eckel. >> catherine kragen. >>>> my mother-in-law, carroll bowers. cassandra booker. alita bitty. towson battel. sandy avery. pamela argo. richard allen. teresa alexander. >> thank you, all. thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for being with us today. your presence means a locked on this 15th anniversary. -- means a lot on this 50th anniversary. admission to the museum is complementary provided five -- provided by our friends at cox to medications. but iran, secretary hippolyta llano -- secretary the awill hol on the media's role on terrorism. thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> in a few moments, the chairman of the house ways and means commission will speak at the national press club. in our work, vice-president at -- vice-president biden on the weekend action that kille