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November 30, 2006
NHTSA ACCUSED OF CONTINUING TO HIDE SAFETY DATA
Has NHTSA complied with the requirements of a Federal statute and a court order mandating that it release a range of vehicle-specific safety information – consumer complaints, warranty claims, etc. – that it collects from manufacturer and other sources? The agency’s latest proposal to meet the requirements has come under sharp attack, led by Public Citizen www.citizen.org for allegedly falling far short.
Both the Washington Post and Detroit Free Press covered the issue in detail. The Post noted that the “secret” data include “eight million consumer complaints, 138 million warranty claims and 5 million field reports on product malfunctions” sent to the agency by manufacturers.
The Free Press reports that NHTSA is arguing that release of the information "will cause substantial competitive harm and will impair the government's ability to obtain this information in the future if released." Its current proposal for treatment of the information comes “in response to a ruling by a federal judge earlier this year that the agency had failed to provide enough notice to comment on an early warning system plan.
“In the March ruling, District Judge Richard J. Leon sent the proposal back to the agency. The early warning system was part of legislation approved by Congress following the massive recall of Firestone tires in 2000. It required automakers and other manufacturers to submit data on deaths, injuries, consumer complaints, property damage and warranty claims.”
An editorial appearing in the Toledo Blade and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette roundly condemned the agency and the Bush administration for taking an “anti-consumer attitude” in the matter. “The NHTSA claims release of the information would ‘invade personal privacy,’ but the stonewalling is characteristic of an administration that has consistently protected interests of industry at the expense of consumers. The auto and tire industries don't want the data out because it might result in more product-liability litigation.”
Posted by MVHAP at November 30, 2006 07:33 PM