Congress passed the Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act in December 2015 as part of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act. Sponsored by Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota and Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, the law responded to high-profile vehicle-safety failures and created a financial incentive for insiders to expose violations that could pose an unreasonable risk of death or serious physical injury.
The program permits employees of automakers, parts suppliers, and dealerships to report safety-law violations to the Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. If their information contributes to an enforcement action or related legal proceeding imposing more than $1 million in monetary sanctions, whistleblowers may receive 10% to 30% of the recovery. The law also provides confidentiality and retaliation protections, and can cover qualifying defects outside the United States when affected vehicles or parts enter the U.S. market. Its examples include Takata airbag ruptures, General Motors ignition-switch defects, Toyota unintended-acceleration complaints, and Early Warning Reporting failures involving multiple manufacturers.
