The U.S. Senate recently approved a bill to boost auto safety regulations and strengthen the penalties for automakers who fail to recall faulty vehicles. Over the past year, many organizations have urged Congress to strengthen auto safety measures in light of the sudden acceleration concerns in Toyota cars. In response to these concerns, a provision of the Senate bill raises fines to $250 million, up from about $17 million, for failing to recall vehicles properly. Unsurprisingly, automakers are challenging this provision. Specifically, automakers are questioning the need for new auto safety measures by pointing to statistics that demonstrate the number of road deaths has fallen to its lowest number since 1949.
As a car and truck accident attorney in Chicago, I believe that we should always strive to reduce the number of road deaths in this country. I find it very troubling that automakers are satisfied with the current number of road deaths and do not want to continue trying to reduce this number. We should never be complacent when it comes to automobile safety. I support this Senate bill and hope that its safety measures are successful in reducing the amount of road deaths in the United States.