WASHINGTON (June 20, 2012) - The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved legislation today repealing a mandate that requires dealers to provide car buyers with a booklet on vehicle insurance costs.

The bill, H.R. 5859, introduced by U.S. Reps. Gregg Harper, R-Miss., and Bill Owens, D-N.Y., is strongly supported by the National Automobile Dealers Association.

“The federal government has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over many years to distribute a booklet that contains largely outdated insurance information for customers in the showroom,” said NADA President Phil Brady.

The U.S. Department of Transportation says the booklet is “not useful” and consumers rarely use it.

The booklet, Relative Collision Insurance Cost Information, has been printed and mailed at taxpayer cost to all new-car dealerships since 1991. According to a recent NADA study, 96 percent of dealers reported that none of their customers has ever asked to see the booklet.

Brady added that dealers generally advise their customers to contact their insurance company directly to get an accurate quote on different vehicles.

Passage of the bill would also eliminate a $1,000 per violation fine that dealers could face for non-compliance.

Brady applauded the committee's action and commended Reps. Harper and Owens, saying that “this is one less mandate and potential fine that dealerships will have to face.”