The Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act passed the Senate last week. The Act creates financial incentives for whistleblowers to come forward with information about safety defects in autos that could endanger public safety; it along with other legislation emerged in the wake of General Motors' ignition switch defects and attempted cover-up.
Read more about it at Autoblog
The bill must still pass in the House of Representatives, where its future must surely be uncertain, at least in the short-term. It may never come up for a vote.
