49 U.S.C. § 30170 — Criminal Penalties

(a) Criminal liability for falsifying or withholding information. (1) General rule: A person who violates section 1001 of title 18 (the general false-statements law) with respect to the reporting requirements of section 30166, with the specific intent to mislead the Secretary about a motor vehicle or equipment safety defect that has caused death or serious bodily injury, as defined in section 1365(g)(3) of title 18, faces a fine under title 18, imprisonment for up to 15 years, or both. (2) Safe harbor to encourage reporting and for whistleblowers: (A) Correction: A person described in paragraph (1) is not subject to these criminal penalties if (1) at the time of the violation, the person did not know it would result in an accident causing death or serious bodily injury, and (2) the person corrects the improper report or failure to report within a reasonable time. (B) Reasonable time and sufficiency of correction: The Secretary must define, by regulation, what counts as a reasonable time and what correction is sufficient for subparagraph (A), issuing a final rule within 90 days of this section's enactment. (C) Effective date: Subsection (a) does not take effect until that final rule takes effect.

(b) Coordination with Department of Justice. The Attorney General may bring an action, or start grand jury proceedings, for a violation of subsection (a) only at the request of the Secretary of Transportation.