Safety Standards on the Chopping Block—Manufacturers Get a Seat at the Table
H.R. 7389 — Motor Vehicle Modernization Act of 2026 · Filed by Brett Guthrie (R-KY) · Introduced Feb 5, 2026 · Reported out
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What it does
This bill modernizes the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) by requiring it to publish a comprehensive 3-year safety rulemaking and research plan every 2 years, establish a dedicated office to oversee the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) with an advisory committee of manufacturers, safety advocates, and insurers, and conduct periodic reviews of existing motor vehicle safety standards to determine if they should be revised or eliminated. It also streamlines exemption processes for manufacturers, updates recall notification procedures to allow electronic contact, establishes working groups on automated vehicle consumer education and post-crash fire rescue, and mandates studies on vehicle ownership costs, wheelchair securement, and vehicle identification numbers.
Why we flagged it
The bill frames itself as modernizing NHTSA processes and transparency, but its operative mechanisms include streamlining manufacturer exemptions, allowing safety standards to be eliminated, and embedding industry representatives in safety-standard-setting bodies—effectively shifting power from regulators to regulated entities.
What the text implies
- Section 8 (General Exemptions) expands manufacturer ability to obtain exemptions by allowing 'performance-based or risk-based assessments' of 'equivalent safety level'—a vague standard that may permit safety-standard avoidance without rigorous proof of equivalence.
- Section 5 (Review of Motor Vehicle Safety Standards) permits NHTSA to eliminate existing safety standards if it determines doing so is 'consistent with motor vehicle safety'—a circular and subjective standard that could justify deregulation without requiring proof that elimination improves safety.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
automotive manufacturers (exemption streamlining, standard elimination pathway); technology providers in autonomous vehicle sector (reduced regulatory friction); motor vehicle equipment manufacturers (expanded testing and evaluation scope)