NHTSA Wants To Regulate Vehicle Electronics

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is looking into more regulation of vehicle electronics. They are required to do this. Congressional action back in 2012 has made it essential for the NHTSA to report to congress its, “progress on examining the need for safety standards.” This comes at an interesting time as the NHTSA is just weeks removed from facing intense scrutiny from Congress for its role in the GM ignition recall fiasco. Congress felt the NHTSA should have known more about the problem and helped to prevent it. It was even shockingly determined that the NHTSA as an organization didn’t possess advanced knowledge of how air bags work. The GM ignition failure has been linked to at least 23 deaths.

The hope for the NHTSA is more regulation of the constantly advancing electronics in new vehicles will improve safety. One concern is so much of a vehicle is electronic. If an electrical problem occurs it could have dire consequences. In a notice posted on Federalregister.gov, the NHTSA explained, “NHTSA currently has research underway that is evaluating the hazards associated with electronic control systems that could impact a vehicle’s steering, throttle, braking and motive power first because they can impact the fundamental control functions that a driver performs.”

It appears the NHTSA is erring on the side of caution. Their Federal Register report mentioned how much recall programs skyrocketed to 653 in 2013. That thorough mention of recalls in their report as well as their recent release of safecar.gov should indicate the NHTSA is improving their coordination with factory recall programs. At the end of the day, they want their electronics regulation to equal safety. One of the biggest concerns with more vehicle technology is cyber security, a topic the report addressed. One part of the article noted, “NHTSA has been actively researching existing cyber security standards and best practices in automotive and other industries.” The report also found there are not currently any readily available automotive cyber security standards. However, the NHTSA appears to be in the process of changing that.

For dealers it will be interesting to see what the NHTSA does to vehicle electronic systems. Will the change be small or great? Could this impact the in-car tech market? Finally, will the changes cause a difference in vehicle price or performance? Those answers are coming, when the government decides to act.