Four Years After Passage of Infrastructure Law, Senators Markey, Blumenthal, Colleagues Urge NHTSA to Finally Implement Life-Saving Traffic Safety Provisions

Letter Text (PDF)
Washington (November 25, 2025) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), today led their colleagues in a letter to Jonathan Morrison, Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), urging a swift implementation of life-saving traffic safety provisions in theInfrastructure Investment and Jobs Act(IIJA).
The lawmakers write,“The agency has not yet implemented many provisions in theBipartisan Infrastructure Law, even though their statutory deadlines have passed, including the provision requiring new cars be equipped with a system to alert the driver to check rear seats after the engine is turned off. Moreover, the Trump administration’s history of relaxing auto safety standards and hamstringing regulators raises serious concerns about its commitment to motor vehicle safety.”
The lawmakers continue,“NHTSA’s mission is not to coast along while industry self-regulates. The American public needs NHTSA to move from kicking the tires on lifesaving standards to getting them on the road.”
Cosigners on the letter include Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.).
The Senators request an update on NHTSA’s work to implement the following critical safety provisions in the law:
Senator Markey is a longtime advocate of comprehensive vehicle safety measures. In September 2025, Senators Markey and Blumenthalwroteto NHTSA urging the agency to investigate concerning reports of Tesla Full-Self Drive driving dangerously around railroad crossings. NHTSA later opened an investigation into the issue. In April 2024, Senators Markey and Blumenthal led their colleaguesin a letterurging NHTSA to be highly cautious about letting autonomous vehicles onto public roads. Shortly after the letter, NHTSA opened an investigation into Tesla’s dangerous autopilot system. The Senatorsissued a statementpraising the Administration’s investigation. Previously, the Senators have led their colleagues in three lettersrequesting updateson the traffic safety provisions in theIIJA.Several of the provisions in theIIJAare longtime priorities of Senator Markey’s, including hisModernizing Seatback Safety Standards Act,which sought to update the safety of vehicle seats.
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