During Advocacy Day, 23 RV Industry Association members attended the visit to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to meet with staff from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). RVIA stated that the visit reinforced the trust and confidence growing between the industry and NHTSA and that moving forward, problems can be tackled together to ensure the safety of RVs.
As a result of the visit, NHTSA officials’ eyes were opened to factors the RV industry faces with recall management which had not been previously considered. RVIA members left with a better understanding of NHTSA as not just the regulators but also a resource that can help the industry.
Eleven NHTSA staff participated in the meeting, including NHTSA’s chief counsel Jonathan Morrison, Jeff Giuseppe, associate administrator for enforcement, Steve Ridella, director of the office of defects investigation (ODI), along with three other division chiefs from ODI.
The two-hour visit consisted of a 40-minute welcome and Q&A with the Morrison, as well as a discussion with NHTSA staff and RVIA members on how the agency and the RV industry can work together to improve safety through compliance education, communication and understanding.
Education was a focus of the visit for both sides.
NHTSA educated RVIA members on compliance responsibilities and our members alerted NHTSA to the differences and unique nature of the RV industry and explained how it is different from the auto industry, specifically, how those differences affect safety identification processes and recall administration.
The visit ended at an RV display outside the DOT building where NHTSA staff and RVIA members were able to mingle and continue the discussion in a more casual setting. It also gave DOT staff an opportunity to tour one of the larger RVs available.
