Agency Under Scrutiny for Oversight of Highway Money

The Center for Auto Safety is the nation’s premier independent, member driven, non-profit consumer advocacy organization dedicated to improving vehicle safety, quality, and fuel economy on behalf of all drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.

The Department of Transportation’s inspector general is investigating whether the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been checking on whether $601 million it gave to states for highway safety has been properly used.

The money was given to the states during the 2011 fiscal year for “a wide range of safety programs aimed at reducing fatalities, injuries and economic losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes,” according to the inspector general’s announcement Monday.

It said the inspector general wants to know whether N.H.T.S.A. “provides sufficient guidance and monitoring” of how the money is spent.

Previously the inspector general has not had good luck with similar investigations because of what it considered poor record keeping.

Click here to read the full article from the New York Times