Used-car buyers get airbag safety disclosure—but sellers face criminal liability
H.R. 10762 — Anthony Amoros Law Right to Know Act · Filed by Michael Lawler (R-NY) · Introduced Oct 6, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires anyone selling a used car (made after 1997) to either maintain a working airbag system or clearly disclose in writing and on the windshield that airbags are missing or disabled. Violations are treated as deceptive trade practices enforceable by the FTC and state attorneys general, with civil penalties up to $25,000 for deaths or paralysis, and criminal penalties up to 10 years imprisonment for knowing violations.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a mandatory disclosure requirement for a specific vehicle safety defect (airbags), backed by FTC enforcement and criminal penalties. It is fundamentally a consumer protection and transparency measure, not a tax, subsidy, or deregulation.
What the text implies
- Criminal penalties (up to life imprisonment for deaths) create significant liability exposure for individual sellers in private sales, potentially chilling the used-car market for non-dealers.
- The bill applies equally to individual private sellers and dealerships, imposing compliance burdens on casual sellers who may lack legal resources to understand disclosure requirements.
- Disclosure requirement does not mandate repair—sellers can simply disclose and sell unsafe vehicles, so protection depends entirely on buyer awareness and choice.
- No safe harbor or good-faith defense is specified, meaning even inadvertent non-disclosure could trigger criminal liability.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Used-car buyers gain critical safety information before purchase, reducing the risk of unknowingly buying vehicles with disabled safety systems that could cause injury or death. Sellers face compliance costs and liability, but these are justified by the public safety benefit.
Named in the bill
Federal Trade Commission, State Attorneys General, Used car sellers (dealerships and individuals), Used car buyers
Where it stands
- Oct 6, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Oct 6, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary and House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (7,194 characters) on Oct 8, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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