This bill prohibits manufacturers from bundling optional vehicle safety features with non-safety features unless they are offered separately or as standard equipment with clear cost disclosure.
Frank Pallone
Representative
NJ-6
The Safety is Not For Sale Act prohibits manufacturers from bundling optional vehicle safety features with non-safety features during the initial sale or lease. This legislation requires that optional safety features be offered separately or as standard trim, with their cost clearly disclosed to the first purchaser. Enforcement will be handled by the Federal Trade Commission, and state attorneys general are also authorized to bring civil actions for violations.
Safety is Not For Sale Act Unbundles Car Safety: No More $5,000 Upgrades for Blind-Spot Monitoring
The 'Safety is Not For Sale Act' aims to stop car manufacturers from holding life-saving technology hostage behind expensive luxury packages. Under this bill, companies can no longer force you to buy a sunroof, leather seats, or a premium sound system just to get advanced safety features like automatic emergency braking or lane-departure warnings. Specifically, the bill requires that any optional safety feature—defined as tech that controls vehicle motion, alerts the driver to collisions, or monitors for impairment—must be offered as a standalone option or included as standard equipment. It also mandates that the price of these safety tools be clearly disclosed on the sticker, separate from any non-safety upgrades, starting 180 days after the bill becomes law.
Unbundling the 'Luxury' of Staying Alive
Currently, if you want a car that alerts you when you’re drifting out of your lane, you might find yourself forced to buy a 'Technology Package' that costs thousands of dollars and includes five things you don't actually want. This bill changes the math for the average car buyer. For a young family on a budget or a commuter looking for a basic sedan, it means you can pick and choose the safety tech that matters to you—like improved roadway illumination or crash notifications—without being upsold on a panoramic roof. By requiring these features to be 'unbundled' from non-safety equipment (Section 2), the bill ensures that safety isn't treated as a premium perk reserved for those who can afford the highest trim levels.
Enforcement with Teeth
This isn't just a suggestion for car dealerships; the bill gives the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the power to treat 'safety bundling' as an unfair or deceptive act. This means the same agency that goes after scammers will be watching the fine print on your auto lease. Furthermore, state attorneys general are empowered to sue manufacturers on behalf of their residents to stop unlawful practices and even win damages or restitution for consumers. If a dealer tries to hide the cost of a collision-risk alert system inside a generic 'Convenience Package,' they could face significant civil penalties and be forced to pay back the residents they misled.
The 'Trim Level' Loophole
While the bill is a win for transparency, there is a technical detail to watch: the 'standard trim equipment' provision. Manufacturers can still include safety features as standard on specific, higher-priced trims rather than offering them as individual add-ons for the base model. For example, a manufacturer might make blind-spot monitoring standard on the 'GT' version of a car but not offer it at all on the base 'LX' model. While the bill requires the cost of optional features to be disclosed, it doesn't strictly force every safety feature to be available on the cheapest possible version of a car, provided it's bundled as 'standard' for a specific trim level. This means savvy shoppers will still need to compare whether a higher trim's 'standard' safety is a better deal than adding features piecemeal to a base model.