Steven Cliff closer to getting NHTSA back to the business of safety

WASHINGTON — The nation's top vehicle safety agency is another step closer to having a permanent head — something that safety advocates say is urgently needed and long overdue.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation last week advanced President Joe Biden's pick Steven Cliff to lead NHTSA, sending his nomination to the Senate floor for a vote. That vote, as of press time, was not yet scheduled.

"We need a permanent leader in place," Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., chair of the committee, said during the markup.

Cliff is currently the agency's deputy administrator — a role he has held since shortly after Biden was inaugurated in 2021. NHTSA hasn't had a Senate-confirmed administrator since Mark Rosekind, who resigned in 2017 when the Trump administration took over.

Automotive News contacted NHTSA for an interview with Cliff after the panel's approval, but he was not available.

While the action on Cliff's nomination shows progress, the agency's to-do list isn't getting any smaller, safety advocates and legal experts told Automotive News last week.

"Most important for us right now is the fact that NHTSA has a significant backlog of regulatory safety to-dos," said Michael Brooks, acting executive director of the Center for Auto Safety. "They've been really slow on vehicle safety rule-makings in recent years."

NHTSA has more than 50 items in various stages of the rule-making process, according to its most recent regulatory agenda. Among them, the agency is nearing the finish line for fuel economy standards for the 2024 through 2026 model years and is considering a rule-making on the development of a safety framework for autonomous vehicles.

"He has already expressed an interest in addressing traffic deaths, and if confirmed, he is expected to lead the charge on that front, along with regulating autonomous vehicle technologies in a manner that leverages technology to make the roadways safer," said Rukiya Mohamed, a member of law firm Crowell & Moring's transportation practice.

On top of that, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law last year directs the agency to follow through on several major vehicle safety measures.

"It's very important for NHTSA to have a consistent leader throughout the process," said Brooks, referencing the multiyear strategy.

Also high on the to-do list: ongoing investigations involving Tesla's Autopilot driver-assist system, as well as the electric vehicle maker's initial decision to allow video games to be played on the center touch screen while the vehicle is being driven.

"I think there is more institutional gravitas once you are confirmed," said David Zipper, a visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. "Do I think things will change overnight? Not at all. But there are a number of things that need to happen sooner than later from NHTSA."

Tim Lynch, senior director of the Washington strategic government relations and counseling practice at Morgan Lewis, said having a Senate-confirmed administrator is "vitally important," especially as it relates to the development of AVs.

Eventually, the AV industry is "going to hit a point where even though they haven't been constrained necessarily by the lack of guidance and leadership, I think they're going to quickly get to some issues that NHTSA is going to have to give more specific guidance," Lynch said.

Prior to joining NHTSA, Cliff was deputy executive officer for the California Air Resources Board, where he oversaw a program regulating vehicle emissions.

"Every safety issue has its own layers of complexity," Brooks said. "I think bringing his ability to organize that type of complexity into a system where we're working to reduce injuries and deaths instead of emissions — as he might be used to — I see a lot of value in adding someone like him to the administrative position."

Joan Claybrook, a former NHTSA administrator, said if Cliff is confirmed by the Senate, it will give him the necessary authority and the clout to confront many of the agency's pending safety standards.

"My advice to him is to take a tough stand on the issues that he believes will save lives," she said. "That's his statutory job, and I believe that when you do that, people respect you. If you're just a 'go-along, get-along' type of person, they don't."

Still, NHTSA has a lot of work to do, and action is needed now, said Brooks.

"They're going to need someone at the top who can oil the gears and get things rolling quickly," he said. "Crash deaths have never been higher, and it's time for NHTSA to organize itself and that starts at the top."