S. 1474 · Where this bill is now
In committee
Introduced in the Senate, Apr 10, 2025
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryCreates legal backing for auto safety data sharing
Right now, car manufacturers and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have an informal agreement to share safety information with each other. This bill makes that arrangement official by creating a program called PARTS that lets automakers voluntarily share safety data through a third party, like a nonprofit or university, for research and analysis. The data shared this way stays private and won't be released to the public.
How it affects you
If you buy or drive a car, this could indirectly benefit you over time by helping NHTSA and automakers identify and understand safety problems more effectively through shared research. However, the safety data itself remains confidential, so you won't see the details of what companies share with regulators.
Read the official summary (Introduced in Senate, Apr 10, 2025)
Vehicle Safety Research Act of 2025
This bill provides statutory authority for the Partnership for Analytics Research in Traffic Safety (PARTS) program in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). PARTS is an accord among automakers and NHTSA, which enables participants to voluntarily share safety-related data, via an independent third party, for collaborative safety analysis.
The bill specifies that
• NHTSA must develop a governing charter for the program;
• NHTSA must contract with an external organization (i.e., a qualified nonprofit organization or institution of higher education) to conduct research to gather, analyze, and share certain traffic safety data and information; and
• any report, data, communications, work product, or other information voluntarily submitted to NHTSA or an external organization under the program shall not be disclosed to the public.
Further, the bill specifies that NHTSA is not required to promulgate any regulations to carry out the PARTS program.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
1st SessionS. 1474
A BILL
Vehicle Safety Research Act of 2025
Sponsor: Sen. Gary C. Peters (D-MI) · Introduced Apr 10, 2025 · Transportation and Public Works · 1 version of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Apr 10, 2025: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.”