Automobile Safety Act

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Republic of Kringalia after thoughtful consideration of national interests as follows:

Article 1
This act shall be known in short title as the ‘Automobile Safety Act’ and shall be of use to establish regulations on the production and importation of automobiles in order to ensure the well being of automobile users.

Article 2
The authority of this piece of legislation is based on the power of the Congress to regulate commerce and economic activity within the reasonable boundaries of respect for private ownership.

Article 3
Henceforth the production and importation of automobiles shall be prohibited within the Republic of Kringalia unless the same are compliant with the regulations to be established in the law and according to reasonable interpretations of the same.

No person or subject to the jurisdiction of the Republic of Kringalia shall be prevented from using an automobile which is non compliant with the present regulations if the automobile in question was acquired before the adoption of this law nor shall the importation of automobiles in the aforementioned condition be prevented if the same were en route to their destination at the time of adoption of this law but there shall be no production or continuation thereof of non compliant automobiles after the adoption of this law within the Republic of Kringalia.

Article 4
The production and importation of automobiles shall be according to the following regulation standards:

1. Water pumps shall have a duration of at least 120 000 kilometres but if there are safety concerns then the permitted duration shall be of at least 100 000 kilometres.

2. Airbags shall be located in the front of both front seats and at the sides of the external back seats but there shall be no need of airbags for the central back seat.

Article 5
There shall be an Automobile Regulation Commission under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation that shall discharge the following functions:

1. Enforce the provisions of the Automobile Safety Act and the administrative regulations that arise from it and all subsequent laws and administrative acts that refer to automobile safety.

2. Penalise the production and importation of non-compliant automobiles according to the administrative regulations of this law.

3. Determine additional and enforceable safety requirements for automobiles based on reasonable indications arising from the inspections of imported and manufactured automobiles.

4. Report annually on the enforcement of this law to the Committees on Transportation of both houses of the Congress.

5. Advice the Secretary of Transportation on automobile safety and other relevant issues within its jurisdiction.

Article 6
The Automobile Regulation Commission shall be led by a Chairman and a Vice Chairman in second place and both shall be named in the same manner as the heads of the executive departments for terms of six years and both shall be assisted by as many officials as might be necessary according to the internal rules of operations of the Automobile Regulation Commission and of the Department of Transportation.

Both the Chairman and the Vice Chairman shall be compensated for their services in the same manner as the Assistant Secretary of Transportation and shall be entitled to the same retirement benefits as the former.

Article 7
There shall be twelve million Kringles (κ 12 000 000) appropriated for the establishment and functioning of the Automobile Regulation Commission for the present fiscal year and all of it shall be used and distributed in a manner determined by the Chairman after reasonable consultation with appropriate authorities.

Those Kringles that have not been used upon the end of the present fiscal year shall be retained by the Automobile Regulation Commission but shall not be used unless with the authorisation of the Congress and in cases of necessary emergency.

Article 8
The Automobile Regulation Commission is authorised to determine the fines for the violations of this law and can recommend additional punishments in the courts of law in cases where there have been repeated violations in one person or entity but those recommendations shall not be binding unless enforced by the aforementioned court and in no manner shall violations be considered felonies or misdemeanours.

Article 9
In case that felonies or misdemeanours happen while using a non-compliant automobile the seller, producer or importer shall not be held liable nor prosecutable or responsible in any way unless it is proven that the violation was the inevitable cause of the crime.

Article 10
The term ‘automobile’ in this law shall refer to any self-propelled vehicle that has an internal-combustion engine, along with four or more wheels, that is used for land transport.

Article 11
The term ‘non-compliant’ in this law shall refer to those automobiles that do not meet the requirements set in this law or in the regulations of the Automobile Regulation Commission as a direct result of the enforcement of this law.

Article 12
The term ‘additional punishments’ in this law shall refer to community service or effective or suspended prison as enforceable in a court of law.

Article 13
The present Act shall be operative upon being published in the ‘Factbook of Kringalia’.

The President of the Republic of Kringalia