Posted by Tiffany Sanders J.D. | Posted in Personal Injury Legislation Watch
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed tougher regulations on vehicle roof strength. At a glance, that looks like a great proposal, since thousands of people are killed in vehicle rollovers each year, often because the vehicle roof caves in on impact.
However, the aspect of the regulation that NHTSA is underplaying to the public is that it would pre-empt all state laws regarding vehicle roof strength. Thus, so long as a vehicle met the federal standards, an injury victim could not bring suit against the manufacturer even if it could be proven that roof strength deficiencies caused the injury. States would not be able to set standards higher than those included in the federal provisions, either by statute or case law.
