Senate committee approves former NHTSA chief counsel to head the administration

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation voted 16-12 to approve the nomination of Jonathan Morrison as National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) administrator. 

Morrison, NHTSA former chief counsel,  is expected to go before the full Senate later this year for approval. 

He currently works for Apple and previously served as the president of Auto Advisory Services and director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs for the California New Car Dealers Association, according to his LinkedIn page. The page says he’s worked at Apple for the past four years. 

Alliance for Automotive Innovation (Auto Innovators) President and CEO John Bozzella previously congratulated Morrison in a press release. 

Before the Senate committee’s vote last week, a hearing was held where the committee heard from Morrison and asked questions. 

“Why am I passionate about this role? I believe the motor vehicle has been instrumental to the success of the American public over the past century,” Morrison said in his testimony. “Ready access to a car or truck greatly expands our personal, professional, and recreational horizons well beyond any other transportation technology, and has much to do with the ability to achieve the American dream through upward economic mobility.”

Morrison said the tens of thousands of fatalities that happen in the nation annually represent a parent, child, sibling, spouse, or friend; yet, 50% are killed without a seatbelt, one-third involve an impaired driver, and 30% involve speeding.

“Since the vast majority of crashes is driven by human choice or error, we need to double down on successful countermeasures to driver behavioral risks,” Morrison said. “That starts with reinvigorating the agency’s partnership with states and law enforcement to emphasize the critical importance of traffic enforcement action and removing unsafe drivers from the road.”

Committee Ranking Member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) said that NHTSA has conducted 25% fewer investigations into vehicle safety this year. She said Consumer Reports also has reported that investigations had already hit a low. 

“We need to make sure that we have hard-working inspectors, investigators, and agencies that are doing their job and not taking shortcuts on safety,” Cantwell said. 

Committee Chairman Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) asked, “How should NHTSA encourage automakers to build safe and reliable vehicles without relying on costly government mandates that raise vehicle prices for consumers?” 

Morrison responded that the government has to do a better job of educating automakers on regulatory expectations. 

“You do need regulation with new technology, but only once the technology is well understood by the agency and the industry, usually after the development,” Morrison said. 

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) also focused on lowering costs for automakers and, ultimately, consumers. He asked Morrison about the age of the national fleet. 

“It is approaching 13 model years old, and the safety implications of that are profound,” Morrison said. 

He said past studies have shown that a vehicle between 12 and 15 years old is 19% more likely to have a fatal crash than one of zero to six years old. 

Moreno responded that it’s obvious that making vehicles more affordable would reduce the age of the fleet. He added that deregulating the industry of standards, such as aggressive emission standards, is one option. 

Working toward one set of standards for vehicles is another option, he said. 

“If the north star is safety, we should have a total consensus around lowering auto prices,” Moreno said. “We should have a totally separate hearing on what we can do here at the federal government to lower the price of autos. When affording a car is out of reach for most Americans, that has grave implications for job seekers, the ability to get to hospitals, and the ability to have personal freedom.” 

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said it is important that NHTSA allow for auto innovation when issuing regulations. 

“We want to continue to set the pace when it comes to auto innovation,” Blackburn said. “Autonomous vehicles is something that there is a lot of work being done [on]. We want to make sure that we are setting the standards on this, that it is not China or somewhere else.” 

Morrison pointed to a federal framework for AVs that U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced in recent months. 

Part of that framework includes NHTSA streamlining an exemption that allows OEMs to sell AVs that do not fully comply with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS). 

Morrison said the last thing a manufacturer wants to do is spend billions on a pathway, then have the federal government shut the door on it.

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Jonathan Morrison speaks during his nomination hearing for administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)/Screenshot