NHTSA Aims to Make it Easier for Whistleblowers With Release of New Informational Webpage

NHTSA Aims to Make it Easier for Whistleblowers With Release of New Informational Webpage

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released an informational website page aimed at making it easier for any employee or contractor of a motor vehicle manufacturer, part supplier, or dealer to provide whistleblower information to the agency. The website can be found at:

https://www.nhtsa.gov/laws-regulations/whistleblower-program

The website was implemented pursuant to the Vehicle Safety Act found under Title 49 of the United States Code, Chapter 301, enacted in 2015.

The goal of the informational webpage is to make it easier for potential whistleblowers to report information to the agency on a variety of topics, including safety defects, noncompliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, and violations of the Vehicle Safety Act. The submissions can ultimately lead to formal actions including investigation, recall, or civil penalty enforcement action.

Notably, the program may even pay a monetary award to a whistleblower who provides information that leads to the successful resolution of an enforcement action for violations of the law. The amount could be substantial as well, between 10% to 30% of collected monetary sanctions issued over $1 million.

There is no required form and submissions are made electronically to a designated e-mail address. There also does not appear to be any guidance on what type of information is requested other than to include “information relating to a motor vehicle safety defect, noncompliance with a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, or violation of the Vehicle Safety Act.” With such a broad mandate, it raises an important question of how the agency will filter through potentially irrelevant submissions to identify legitimate concerns. Nevertheless, right or wrong, the webpage will likely have the desired result of increasing awareness of the Whistleblower program.