§ 578.7 - Criminal safe harbor provision.

§ 578.7 Criminal safe harbor provision.

(a) Scope. This section sets forth the requirements regarding the reasonable time and the manner of correction for a person seeking safe harbor protection from criminal liability under 49 U.S.C. 30170(a)(2), which provides that a person described in 49 U.S.C. 30170(a)(1) is not subject to criminal penalties thereunder if:

(1) At the time of the violation, such person does not know that the violation would result in an accident causing death or serious bodily injury; and

(2) The person corrects any improper reports or failure to report, with respect to reporting requirements of 49 U.S.C. 30166, within a reasonable time.

(b) Reasonable time. A correction is considered to have been performed within a reasonable time if the person seeking protection from criminal liability makes the correction to any improper (i.e., incorrect, incomplete, or misleading) report not more than thirty (30) calendar days after the date of the report to the agency and corrects any failure to report not more than thirty (30) calendar days after the report was due to be sent to or received by the agency, as the case may be, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30166, including a regulation, requirement, request or order issued thereunder. In order to meet these reasonable time requirements, all submissions required by this section must be received by NHTSA within the time period specified in this paragraph, and not merely mailed or otherwise sent within that time period.

(c) Sufficient manner of correction. Each person seeking safe harbor protection from criminal penalties under 49 U.S.C. 30170(a)(2) must comply with the following with respect to each improper report and failure to report for which safe harbor protection is sought:

(1) Sign and submit to NHTSA a dated document identifying:

(i) Each previous improper report (e.g., informational statement and document submission), and each failure to report as required under 49 U.S.C. 30166, including a regulation, requirement, request or order issued thereunder, for which protection is sought, and

(ii) The specific predicate under which the improper or omitted report should have been provided (e.g., the report was required by a specified regulation, NHTSA Information Request, or NHTSA Special Order).

(2) Submit the complete and correct information that was required to be submitted but was improperly submitted or was not previously submitted, including relevant documents that were not previously submitted, or, if the person cannot do so, provide a detailed description of that information and/or the content of those documents and the reason why the individual cannot provide them to NHTSA (e.g., the information or documents are not in the individual's possession or control).

(3) For a corporation, the submission must be signed by an authorized person (ordinarily, the individual officer or employee who submitted the improper report or who should have provided the report that the corporation failed to submit on behalf of the company, or someone in the company with authority to make such a submission).

(4) Submissions must be made by a means which permits the sender to verify promptly that the report was in fact received by NHTSA and the day it was received by NHTSA.

(5) Submit the report to Chief Counsel (NCC-10), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Room 5219, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590.

[65 FR 81419, Dec. 26, 2000, as amended at 66 FR 38384, July 24, 2001]