49 U.S.C. § 32303 — Insurance information

Page 929 TITLE 49—TRANSPORTATION § 32303 2013—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 112–252, § 2(a), inserted at end ‘‘The Secretary, after providing an opportunity for public comment, shall study and report to Congress the most useful data, format, and method for providing simple and understandable damage susceptibility infor- mation to consumers.’’ Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 112–252, § 1, struck out subsec. (c). Text read as follows: ‘‘The Secretary shall prescribe regulations that require passenger motor vehicle deal- ers to distribute to prospective buyers information the Secretary develops and provides to the dealers that compares insurance costs for different makes and mod- els of passenger motor vehicles based on damage sus- ceptibility and crashworthiness.’’ 2012—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 112–141, § 31305(b)(1), in- serted ‘‘, crash avoidance, and any other areas the Sec- retary determines will improve the safety of passenger motor vehicles’’ after ‘‘crashworthiness’’. Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 112–141, § 31305(b)(2), struck out par. (4) which read as follows: ‘‘vehicle operating costs dependent on the characteristics referred to in clauses (1)–(3) of this subsection, including insurance informa- tion obtained under section 32303 of this title.’’ Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 112–141, § 31306, added subsec. (d). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2012 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 112–141 effective Oct. 1, 2012, see section 3(a) of Pub. L. 112–141, set out as an Effec- tive and Termination Dates of 2012 Amendment note under section 101 of Title 23, Highways. REGULATIONS Pub. L. 112–252, § 1, Jan. 10, 2013, 126 Stat. 2406, pro- vided in part that: ‘‘any regulations promulgated under such subsection [former subsec. (c) of this section] shall have no force or effect.’’ NEW CAR ASSESSMENT PROGRAM; UPDATES Pub. L. 117–58, div. B, title IV, § 24213(a), Nov. 15, 2021, 135 Stat. 826, provided that: ‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act [Nov. 15, 2021], the Secretary [of Transportation] shall finalize the pro- ceeding for which comments were requested in the no- tice entitled ‘New Car Assessment Program’ (80 Fed. Reg. 78522 (December 16, 2015)) to update the passenger motor vehicle information required under section 32302(a) of title 49, United States Code.’’ IMPROVED VEHICLE SAFETY DATABASES Pub. L. 117–58, div. B, title IV, § 24217, Nov. 15, 2021, 135 Stat. 830, provided that: ‘‘Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act [Nov. 15, 2021], after consultation with frequent users of publicly available databases, the Secretary [of Transportation] shall im- prove public accessibility to information relating to the publicly accessible vehicle safety databases of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration by re- vising the publicly accessible vehicle safety data- bases— ‘‘(1) to improve organization and functionality, in- cluding design features such as drop-down menus; ‘‘(2) to allow data from applicable publicly acces- sible vehicle safety databases to be searched, sorted, aggregated, and downloaded in a manner that— ‘‘(A) is consistent with the public interest; and ‘‘(B) facilitates easy use by consumers; ‘‘(3) to provide greater consistency in presentation of vehicle safety issues; ‘‘(4) to improve searchability regarding specific ve- hicles and issues, which may include the standardiza- tion of commonly used search terms; and ‘‘(5) to ensure nonconfidential documents and mate- rials relating to information created or obtained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are made publicly available in a manner that is— ‘‘(A) timely; and ‘‘(B) searchable in databases by any element that the Secretary determines to be in the public inter- est.’’ CONSUMER GUIDANCE Pub. L. 114–94, div. B, title XXIV, § 24103(d), Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1703, provided that: ‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 4, 2015], the Secretary shall make available to the public on the Internet detailed guidance for consumers sub- mitting safety complaints, including— ‘‘(1) a detailed explanation of what information a consumer should include in a complaint; and ‘‘(2) a detailed explanation of the possible actions the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration can take to address a complaint and respond to the consumer, including information on— ‘‘(A) the consumer records, such as photographs and police reports, that could assist with an inves- tigation; and ‘‘(B) the length of time a consumer should retain the records described in subparagraph (A).’’ DEADLINE FOR REPORT Pub. L. 112–252, § 2(b), Jan. 10, 2013, 126 Stat. 2406, pro- vided that: ‘‘The Secretary of Transportation shall carry out the last sentence of section 32302(b) of title 49, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), not later than the date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act [Jan. 10, 2013].’’ § 32303. Insurance information (a) GENERAL REPORTS AND INFORMATION RE- QUIREMENTS.—(1) In carrying out this chapter, the Secretary of Transportation may require an insurer, or a designated agent of the insurer, to make reports and provide the Secretary with in- formation. The reports and information may in- clude accident claim information by make, model, and model year of passenger motor vehi- cle about the kind and extent of— (A) physical damage and repair costs; and (B) personal injury. (2) In deciding which reports and information are to be provided under this subsection, the Secretary shall— (A) consider the cost of preparing and pro- viding the reports and information; (B) consider the extent to which the reports and information will contribute to carrying out this chapter; and (C) consult with State authorities and public and private agencies the Secretary considers appropriate. (3) To the extent possible, the Secretary shall obtain reports and information under this sub- section on a voluntary basis. (b) REQUESTED INFORMATION ON CRASH- WORTHINESS, DAMAGE SUSCEPTIBILITY, AND RE- PAIR AND PERSONAL INJURY COST.—When re- quested by the Secretary, an insurer shall give the Secretary information— (1) about the extent to which the insurance premiums charged by the insurer are affected by damage susceptibility, crashworthiness, and the cost of repair and personal injury, for each make and model of passenger motor vehi- cle; and (2) available to the insurer about the effect of damage susceptibility, crashworthiness, and the cost of repair and personal injury for each make and model of passenger motor vehicle on the risk incurred by the insurer in insuring that make and model. (c) DISCLOSURE.—In distributing information received under this section, the Secretary may Page 930 TITLE 49—TRANSPORTATION § 32304 disclose identifying information about a person that may be an insured, a claimant, a passenger, an owner, a witness, or an individual involved in a motor vehicle accident, only with the consent of the person. (Pub. L. 103–272, § 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 1036.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 32303(a) ...... 15:1945(a)–(d), (g). Oct. 20, 1972, Pub. L. 92–513, § 205, 86 Stat. 958. 32303(b) ...... 15:1945(e). 32303(c) ...... 15:1945(f). In subsection (a), the words ‘‘carrying out this chap- ter’’ are substituted for ‘‘to enable him to carry out the purposes of this subchapter’’ to eliminate unnecessary words. The word ‘‘provide’’ is substituted for ‘‘furnish’’ for consistency. In subsection (a)(1), before clause (A), the words ‘‘the Secretary of Transportation may require . . . to . . . provide the Secretary with’’ are substituted for ‘‘shall, upon request by the Secretary . . . as the Secretary may reasonably require’’ to eliminate unnecessary words. The text of 15:1945(g) is omitted as surplus be- cause of 49:322(a). The word ‘‘information’’ is sub- stituted for ‘‘data’’ for consistency in the section. In clause (A), the words ‘‘repair costs’’ are substituted for ‘‘the cost of remedying the damage’’ to eliminate un- necessary words. In subsection (a)(2)(C), the words ‘‘State authorities and public and private agencies’’ are substituted for ‘‘such State and insurance regulatory agencies and other agencies and associations, both public and pri- vate’’ for consistency and to eliminate unnecessary words. In subsection (b), before clause (1), the word ‘‘infor- mation’’ is substituted for ‘‘a description of’’ for con- sistency in the section. In clause (1), the word ‘‘pre- miums’’ is substituted for ‘‘rates or premiums’’ because it is inclusive. In clause (2), the words ‘‘by the insurer’’ are added for clarity. In subsection (c), the words ‘‘identifying informa- tion’’ are substituted for ‘‘the name of, or other identi- fying information’’, and the words ‘‘a witness, or an in- dividual involved’’ are substituted for ‘‘a driver, an in- jured person, a witness, or otherwise involved’’ to eliminate unnecessary words. The word ‘‘accident’’ is substituted for ‘‘crash or collision’’ for consistency in this section. The words ‘‘so named or otherwise identi- fied’’ are omitted as surplus. § 32304. Passenger motor vehicle country of ori- gin labeling (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— (1) ‘‘allied supplier’’ means a supplier of pas- senger motor vehicle equipment that is wholly owned by the manufacturer, or if a joint ven- ture vehicle assembly arrangement, a supplier that is wholly owned by one member of the joint venture arrangement. (2)(A) ‘‘carline’’— (i) means a name given a group of pas- senger motor vehicles that has a degree of commonality in construction such as body and chassis; (ii) does not consider a level of decor or opulence; and (iii) except for light duty trucks, is not generally distinguished by characteristics such as roof line, number of doors, seats, or windows; and (B) light duty trucks are different carlines than passenger motor vehicles. (3) ‘‘country of origin’’, when referring to the origin of an engine or transmission, means the country from which the largest share of the dollar value added to an engine or trans- mission has originated— (A) with the United States and Canada treated as separate countries; and (B) the estimate of the percentage of the dollar value shall be based on the purchase price of direct materials, as received at indi- vidual engine or transmission plants, of en- gines of the same displacement and trans- missions of the same transmission type, plus the assembly and labor costs incurred for the final assembly of such engines and trans- missions. (4) ‘‘dealer’’ means a person residing or lo- cated in the United States, including the Dis- trict of Columbia or a territory or possession of the United States, and engaged in selling or distributing new passenger motor vehicles to the ultimate purchaser. (5) ‘‘final assembly place’’ means the plant, factory, or other place at which a new pas- senger motor vehicle is produced or assembled by a manufacturer, and from which the vehicle is delivered to a dealer or importer with all component parts necessary for the mechanical operation of the vehicle included with the ve- hicle, whether or not the component parts are permanently installed in or on the vehicle. Such term does not include facilities for en- gine and transmission fabrication and assem- bly and the facilities for fabrication of motor vehicle equipment component parts which are produced at the same final assembly place using forming processes such as stamping, ma- chining, or molding processes. (6) ‘‘foreign content’’ means passenger motor vehicle equipment that is not of United States/Canadian origin. (7) ‘‘manufacturer’’ means a person— (A) engaged in manufacturing or assem- bling new passenger motor vehicles; (B) importing new passenger motor vehi- cles for resale; or (C) acting for and under the control of such a manufacturer, assembler, or importer in connection with the distribution of new passenger motor vehicles. (8) ‘‘new passenger motor vehicle’’ means a passenger motor vehicle for which a manufac- turer, distributor, or dealer has never trans- ferred the equitable or legal title to the vehi- cle to an ultimate purchaser. (9) ‘‘of United States/Canadian origin’’, when referring to passenger motor vehicle equip- ment, means— (A) for an outside supplier— (i) the full purchase price of passenger motor vehicle equipment whose purchase price contains at least 70 percent value added in the United States and Canada; or (ii) that portion of the purchase price of passenger motor vehicle equipment con- taining less than 70 percent value added in the United States and Canada that is at- tributable to the percent value added in the United States and Canada when such percent is expressed to the nearest 5 per- cent; and