{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/nominee-pledges-tough-approach-to-auto-safety", "Nominee Pledges Tough Approach to Auto Safety", "2014-12-03", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Claire McCaskill", "M001170", "www.mccaskill.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Nominee Pledges Tough Approach to Auto Safety \r\n                \r\n                     Nominee Pledges Tough Approach to Auto Safety \r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                Wednesday, December 3, 2014\r\n            \r\n            \n\t\n\r\n            \r\n            \r\n                  \r\n                    By:\u00a0\r\n                    Siobhan Hughes\r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                \r\n                \r\n                \r\n            WASHINGTON\u2014 Mark Rosekind, nominated to be the top U.S. auto-safety regulator, pledged to lawmakers on Wednesday that he would bring a \u201cfresh set of eyes\u201d to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, aiming to turn the page on a difficult period for the agency.\r\nThe Senate is racing to confirm Mr. Rosekind, a fatigue scientist, before Congress adjourns for the year amid frustration that the agency missed multiple opportunities to identify safety defects.\r\nNHTSA for years either overlooked or failed to grasp evidence identifying a deadly ignition-switch defect in\u00a0General Motors\u00a0Co. vehicles, according to a congressional report that was released earlier this year. A new crisis emerged more recently amid revelations of exploding\u00a0Takata Corp.\u00a0air bags that are used in millions of vehicles. Many lawmakers believe the car industry simply doesn\u2019t take NHTSA seriously.\r\n\u201cIf confirmed, you have my commitment that I will maintain an aggressive focus on continuing to improve NHTSA\u2019s safety record,\u201d Mr. Rosekind told the Senate Commerce Committee. \u201cTo this task, I will bring a fresh set of eyes and a different perspective honed over the years as a safety professional and manager.\u201d\r\nSenators appeared generally receptive to Mr. Rosekind but cautioned that he\u2019s taking on an agency with a big task at a time when a spate of deadly defects has rattled the industry and its regulators.\r\n\u201cIf you are not feared and respected, then you cannot do a good job,\u201d Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.), who chaired the hearing, told the nominee.\r\nDrawing on his experience as a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, Mr. Rosekind replied with detailed answers about the types of workers, systems, and safety culture that he wanted to bring to the agency.\r\nIn the process, he appeared to be making an early plea for increased resources for an agency that some Democratic lawmakers feel is understaffed and overwhelmed. Over and over, Mr. Rosekind flagged that the number of complaints pouring in to NHTSA has jumped to 75,000 a year from 45,000, but said that only nine staffers were assigned to look at the complaints. He also said that the regulator needed to think about a better use of computer systems to improve its ability to sift through the data.\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s not just about the individual personnel, but it\u2019s the technology,\u201d Mr. Rosekind said. With only nine people in a defects-investigation office reviewing a complaint database, \u201cwe\u2019re not even talking about connecting the dots; we\u2019re just talking about the overload of having that many complaints.\u201d\r\nThe top job at NHTSA has gone unfilled for almost a year, complicating congressional efforts to hold the agency accountable. The man who has been the face of the agency for the past year, David Friedman, frequently frustrated lawmakers with his answers to their questions, like when he declined to label stalls a serious safety issue, on the grounds that drivers might be able to safely steer their vehicles to the side of the road. During his tenure, NHTSA also initially supported limiting recalls of cars with certain Takata air bags to some hot and humid regions, based on the available data.\r\n\u201cYou have to go with the data,\u201d Mr. Rosekind said in response to a question from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) about whether such a regional recall made sense. But when data don\u2019t exist, \u201cthat is where common sense and other kinds of decision making need to come in,\u201d Mr. Rosekind said.\r\nThe son of a San Francisco police officer who was killed in the line of duty by a driver who ran a red light, Mr. Rosekind emphasized the importance of putting names and faces to auto deaths. He also said that while it was important to correctly identify safety problems, the work didn't stop there.\r\n\u201cNone of it matters, if it doesn\u2019t get fixed,\u201d Mr. Rosekind said.\r\nThe response was aimed at Democratic senators who are frustrated that the auto industry has stopped short of conducting complete recalls. Their ire was trained most recently on Takata, which has resisted a demand from regulators to expand a recall to include driver-side air bags on a nationwide basis. Takata has argued that available data don\u2019t support the need for a broader repair campaign or pinpoint a safety defect.\r\n\u201cWe cannot be shy; we cannot withhold all of the tools to help,\u201d Mr. Rosekind said.\r\n            \r\n             \r\n            \r\n            \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/nominee-pledges-tough-approach-to-auto-safety"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3494379818439484, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}