Consumer Law

Federal Safety Agency Withholds Safety Information from the Public

By Kemnitzer, Anderson, Barron, Ogilvie & Brewer

The National Highway Safety Administration ("NHTSA") is the agency that is supposed to regulate auto manufacturers to improve highway safety. For many years, however, the agency has done little or nothing to ensure highway safety; its actions are more in tune with protecting the auto industry than the public. For example, some years ago, the agency failured to warn consumers that Firestone tires on 1991 to 2001 Ford Explorers were prone to blow out and cause roll-over accidents.

Reacting to that failure, in 2000, Congress enacted a law to address the agency's failure to spot safety-related defects in cars, trucks, and tires. The law, known as the Transportation, Recall Enchancement, Accountability, and Documentation Act ("TREAD") directed the NHTSA to report all consumer complaints, warranty payments, and field reports in the event of an injury or death involving a vehicle or tire defect.

However, for years NHTSA did nothing and then made things worse when it enacted regulations to gut the new law. The regulations allow the auto manufacturers to make the data confidential and unavailable to the public. No good reason exists except to protect the auto industry.

The agency has taken other steps to shut out the public and safety advocates from obtaining information on auto safety. The agency formerly had a public library with a great deal of information essential for evaluating the agency's activities. However, in 2006, the agency shut down the library for all practical purposes.

Continuing with its trend to secrecy, NHTSA will not allow journalists to interview the agency's safety experts, which is contrary to the practice going back 20 years. Chris Jensen of the NY Times covered this topic in the NY Times auto blog.

Full post as published by Lemon Law Blog on February 29, 2008 (boomark / email).