Congress forces automakers to stop hiding safety feature costs
H.R. 7372 — Safety is Not For Sale Act · Filed by Frank Pallone (D-NJ) · Introduced Feb 4, 2026 · Markup held
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What it does
This bill prohibits automakers from bundling optional safety features (like collision-avoidance systems, lane-keeping alerts, or crash detection) with non-safety features or hiding their cost. Manufacturers must offer safety features separately, clearly disclose their price, and can only bundle them as standard equipment on a trim level. The FTC enforces it as consumer fraud, and states can sue on behalf of residents.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to mandate transparent pricing and unbundling of automotive safety features. It is a consumer-protection measure that increases disclosure and choice, not a subsidy, deregulation, or commemorative act.
What the text implies
- Automakers may respond by raising base prices on safety features or making them standard on higher trims only, potentially shifting costs to lower-income buyers who cannot afford premium trims.
- The definition of 'optional safety feature' is broad and delegated to the FTC and NHTSA, creating regulatory uncertainty about which features qualify and may trigger future litigation.
- State attorneys general gain significant enforcement power and can recover attorney fees, potentially creating a patchwork of state-level enforcement actions and settlements.
- Manufacturers may simplify trim structures or reduce the number of optional safety configurations to avoid compliance complexity, reducing consumer choice in some cases.
Who it affects
Ordinary consumers gain transparency and choice: they can see exactly what safety features cost and buy them independently rather than being forced to purchase expensive option packages. This reduces information asymmetry and allows price-conscious buyers to prioritize safety without overpaying for bundled non-safety features.
Who stands to gain
- Consumer advocacy groups
- State attorneys general (enforcement authority and fee recovery)
- Legal services / plaintiff bar (FTC and state enforcement actions)
Named in the bill
Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Secretary of Transportation (NHTSA), State attorneys general, Automakers / motor vehicle manufacturers, Title 49 USC (motor vehicle definitions)
Where it stands
- Feb 4, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 4, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade”
- Feb 10, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
9 lobbying clients named this bill on 9 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $11,038,500 in lobbying spend. A filing names 20 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 89% of bills with at least one filing.
Frank Pallone, the sponsor, reported $1,601,749 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle. $10,000 of that came from 1 PAC tied to these lobbying clients.
- General Motors Company — $3,460,000 on 1 filing
- Toyota Motor North America Inc (tma) — $1,930,500 on 1 filing
- American Association for Justice — $1,840,000 on 1 filing
- American Honda Motor Co., Inc. — $1,477,000 on 1 filing
- National Automobile Dealers Association — $1,191,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jul 9, 2026; 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.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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