SACRAMENTO – Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez’s (D-Long Beach) Senate Bill (SB) 572, which would ensure that California maintains access to critical vehicle safety data, passed the Senate today on a 28-5 vote.  

Currently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) requires manufacturers to report collisions involving vehicles with Level 2 advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) – which have features including lane centering and adaptive cruise control. NHTSA uses this data to investigate and pursue enforcement against manufacturers when there are safety issues with the driver assistance technology, to ensure unsafe vehicles are taken off public roads or that defects with the technology are addressed.  

Layoffs at NHTSA due to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and opposition to crash reporting requirements from Tesla executives and the Trump transition team put this important public safety policy at risk. Recent changes to NHTSA’s collision reporting policy maintained reporting requirements for vehicles with Level 2 advanced driver assistance features, but heightened uncertainty about the future of this essential safety data collection.

“Without collision reporting requirements at the federal level, we lose a powerful tool to ensure the safety of rapidly advancing driver assistance technology,” said Majority Leader Gonzalez. “SB 572 ensures that California consumers and regulators won’t lose access to public safety data if the federal government fails to hold manufacturers accountable for the safety of their vehicles.” 

There is currently no state oversight for Level 2 ADAS vehicles, which have been involved in 747 collisions in California according to NHTSA data – over 500 more than any other state. If the federal government ceases requiring crash reporting for these vehicles, SB 572 will require manufacturers to instead report collisions to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), and require the DMV to make crash statistics public and transmit the data to NHTSA and the National Transportation Safety Board.

"We applaud Senator Gonzalez for her leadership in promoting transparency regarding potential safety defects in vehicles with Level 2 advanced driver assistance systems. If the federal government's top auto safety agency abandons its role in requiring timely reporting about crashes involving semi-autonomous vehicles, it will be vitally important for California to fill that safety gap," said Rosemary Shahan, President of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety.

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Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez proudly represents one million residents in California’s 33rd Senate District, which encompasses Southeast Los Angeles, the City and Port of Long Beach, Lakewood, Signal Hill, and Catalina Island. As Senate Majority Leader and Chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, she is a dedicated advocate on key priorities that impact Californians from economic development and environmental justice to LGBTQ+ and women’s rights, digital equity and more. Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez has championed major policies, including broadband for all, expanding paid sick leave, advancing clean transportation incentives, and ending neighborhood oil drilling. She lives in Long Beach with her family. To learn more, visit www.sen.ca.gov/gonzalez.

Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS) is a national, award-winning non-profit auto safety and consumer advocacy