Procedures to ensure timely correction of safety violations

§ 31161. Procedures to ensure timely correction of safety violations (a) Definition.—Section 31132(1) of this title applies to this section. (b) General.—Not later than August 3, 1991, the Secretary of Transportation shall prescribe regulations establishing procedures to ensure the proper and timely correction of commercial motor vehicle safety violations noted during an inspection carried out with money authorized under section 31104 of this title. (c) Verification Program.—The regulations shall establish a verification program for United States Government inspectors and States participating under section 31102 of this title to ensure that commercial motor vehicles and their operators found in violation of safety requirements have been brought into compliance with those requirements. The regulations shall include— (1) a nationwide system for random reinspection of the commercial motor vehicles and their operators that have been declared out-of-service because of those safety violations, with the main purpose of the system being to verify that the violations have been corrected on a timely basis; (2) a program of accountability for correcting all safety violations that shall provide that— (A) the operator of a commercial motor vehicle for which a safety violation has been noted shall be issued a form prescribed by the Secretary; (B) the person making the repairs necessary to correct the violation shall certify on the form the making of repairs and the date, location, and time of the repairs; (C) the motor carrier responsible for the commercial motor vehicle or operator shall certify on the form that, based on the carrier’s knowledge, the repairs necessary to correct the violation have been made; and (D) appropriate State penalties shall be imposed for a false statement on the form or a failure to return the form to the appropriate State entity; and (3) a system for ensuring that appropriate State penalties are imposed for failure to correct any of those safety violations.