April 16, 2015
On Tuesday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration amended the Tire Identification Number, the alpha-numeric code used to identify specific tires in a recall. This time, the agency expanded the first portion of the TIN, known as the manufacturer identifier, from two symbols to three for manufacturers of new tires, because the agency is quickly […]
April 13, 2015
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an Equipment Query investigation into a defective Chinese tire sold in the U.S. under different brand names that was recalled by one importer, but not another – even though they share the same distributor. In March, the agency sent an information request to Hercules Tire and Rubber […]
March 31, 2015
Last month, Senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal proposed new legislation that would link car registrations to completing recall repairs. The Repairing Every Car to Avoid Lost Lives (RECALL) Act threatens state DMVs with the loss of five percent of its federal highway funds if they don’t add to their duties checking open recalls for […]
March 20, 2015
Seven years after Honda issued the first Takata airbag recall, it continues to add more vehicles to the tally. Its never-ending rolling recall – a scheme automakers use to quietly keep adding more makes and models as deaths and injuries keep occurring – has gone from 3,940 model year 2001 Accords and Civics to up […]
March 19, 2015
Last Friday the 13th was a very unlucky day for taxpayers – that was the day the Federal Highway Administration announced that we, the people, would continue to reimburse states that choose to install an energy-absorbing guardrail end terminal that has been maiming and killing us. That announcement was bundled in a package of technical […]
March 12, 2015
One of the most important lessons for federal agencies caught asleep at the wheel in a safety crisis is: do everything you can to validate your earlier, poor decisions that led to the crisis. Spare no expense at proving yourself right, while appearing to take a stern stance against industry. By no means should you […]
March 4, 2015
Four years ago, Safety Research & Strategies, along with nationally recognized burn care specialists, raised an issue long neglected by automakers and the regulators: seat heater safety. This comfort feature — often designed to reach maximum temperatures that range far above human tolerances – can and does pose dangers to occupants, but it is rarely […]
February 27, 2015
Lately, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has come in like a wrecking ball, knocking aside manufacturers’ excuses for delaying recalls and other sundry sins with multi-million dollar fines – and now aggressive legal action. Wednesday, the agency filed – apparently – its first-ever Preservation Order “requiring Takata to preserve all air bag inflators removed […]
February 12, 2015
This week, Senators Edward Markey (D-Mass) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) again took on auto manufacturers, pointing to the privacy and security issues associated with the sophisticated electronic systems that proliferate in today’s vehicles. The senators announced at a hearing on “The Connected World: Examining the Internet of Things,” that they plan to introduce a bill […]
February 10, 2015
While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has put aside tire age regulations, Great Britain is inching forward with a bill to ban tires older than 10 years on commercial buses and coaches. The legislation is the result of a campaign by Frances Molloy, whose 18-year-old son Michael died on July 16, 2012 along with […]