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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is considering safety regulations that would require automakers to equip new vehicles with brake override systems and “black boxes” that record crash data, says Administrator David Strickland. Most cars already have some sort of crash recorder aboard, although the amount of data they collect varies. Beginning next year, the data will become more standardized. Many cars also are equipped with a brake override system that automatically cut the engine throttle if it detects simultaneous input from the brake and accelerator. Strickland also told the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 11 that NHTSA may need greater authority to set standards for the increasingly complex technology in current vehicles. The committee is investigating NHTSA’s slow reaction to reports of sudden acceleration in Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles. Strickland, who took charge of the agency in January, says NHTSA is conducting a broad review of vehicle design, including electronics, to determine whether to update design standards, such as those for accelerator pedals. In other testimony, safety advocate Joan Claybrook, a former NHTSA administrator, called for tougher standards, stiffer penalties for carmakers who fail to recall vehicles and greater disclosure of the data they submit during defect investigations. She also urged Congress to double NHTSA’s $873 million annual budget. The agency’s Office of Defects Investigation, which is allotted just under $10 million, has 21 defect investigators to handle complaints, which typically average 30,000 per year. NHTSA received 10,000 reports last month. Strickland says the agency’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year would allow him to hire 66 additional safety staffers.
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