Lawmakers’ legislation on seatback safety passed as part of Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

Washington (July 11, 2024) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) today issued the following statement on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on car seatback safety.

“For too long, families have lived in fear of their seatback collapsing in a car crash and endangering their child in the back seat,” said Senators Markey and Blumenthal. “After passing ourModernizing Seatback Safety Act, and keeping the pressure on NHTSA to act, weare happy to see this progress on updating seatback safety standards. Unfortunately, children are still in danger and action is long-overdue. We urge NHTSA to expeditiouslyfinalizethis rulethat will save lives.”

Senator Markey is a longtime advocate of modernizing seatback safety standards. In April 2021, he and Senator Blumenthal introduced the Modernizing Seatback Safety Act which was passed into law as a part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The law required NHTSA to issue an Advanced Notice for Proposed Rulemaking on vehicle seatback safety. In November 2023, on the two-year anniversary of the Infrastructure Law, Senators Markey and Blumenthal led a group of 10 Senators pressing NHTSA for an update on its plans to update the seatback safety standard.

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