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Senators propose legislation to boost safety of vehicle seats after CBS News investigation
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 Modernizing Seatback Safety Act can finally bring closure to an embarrassing half-century of an unwillingness to upgrade a safety standard that can be passed with the average dining room chair.”
Following a series of CBS News reports that revealed potential safety dangers in vehicle seats, Senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal will reintroduce legislation that would require a new strength standard.
“Seatback strength standards have not been substantially updated since 1967, allowing thousands to be injured and killed when their car’s front seats collapse after a crash,” Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, told CBS News. “That’s why I’m reintroducing legislation to require the modernization of our seatback safety standards moving forward. We must end these entirely unacceptable and preventable tragedies.”
The Modernizing Seatback Safety Act would require automakers and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to strengthen seat standards within two years.