Safety is Not For Sale Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Safety is Not For Sale Act bars a seller or lessor from offering an optional motor-vehicle safety feature to a first purchaser unless the feature is either sold separately from non-safety features or included as standard trim equipment. The seller must also clearly and conspicuously disclose the safety feature's cost separately from any non-safety feature. The rule takes effect 180 days after enactment and violations are treated as FTC unfair-or-deceptive-practice violations. State attorneys general can sue for injunctions, compliance, civil penalties, damages, restitution, compensation, and other relief, subject to notice and federal-action coordination rules.
Who Benefits and How
Vehicle buyers benefit from being able to identify and buy safety features without being forced into bundles with non-safety features, and from clearer pricing for those safety features. State attorneys general gain enforcement authority for residents, while the FTC can enforce the rule under its consumer-protection powers. Buyers of lower trim vehicles benefit if safety features become standard trim equipment rather than premium package add-ons.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Vehicle manufacturers, dealers, and lessors must separate optional safety features from non-safety feature packages or make them standard trim equipment, disclose standalone costs, and update sales practices within 180 days. FTC and state attorneys general must enforce the rule. Automakers may lose revenue from bundling safety equipment with convenience or luxury features.
Key Provisions
- Prohibits offering optional motor-vehicle safety features unless they are sold separately from non-safety features or included as standard trim equipment.
- Requires clear disclosure of the optional safety feature cost apart from non-safety features.
- Treats violations as FTC unfair-or-deceptive-practice violations and preserves other FTC authority.
- Authorizes state attorneys general to seek injunctions, penalties, damages, restitution, compensation, costs, and attorney fees.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Requires optional motor-vehicle safety features to be sold separately from non-safety features or made standard trim equipment, with FTC and state enforcement.
Key Policy Areas
Transportation, Consumers, Manufacturing
Primary Purpose
Requires optional motor-vehicle safety features to be sold separately from non-safety features or made standard trim equipment, with FTC and state enforcement.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Vehicle buyers
- FTC
- State attorneys general
- Lower trim vehicle buyers
Identified Costs
- Vehicle manufacturers
- Auto dealers
- Vehicle lessors
- FTC
- State attorneys general
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeForwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by Voice Vote.
Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade.
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Mr. Pallone introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "commission"
- → Federal Trade Commission
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Non-standard motor-vehicle equipment that performs or supports safety functions such as driver-assistance control, collision alerts, lane alerts, impaired-driver alerts, improved illumination, driver visibility, crash notification, or other FTC-designated safety functions.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology