Category: Automotive

New Study Confirms Effectiveness of ESC

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Reprinted from The Safety Record, V3, Issue 3, May / June 2006

Washington, D.C. – A new University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute study confirms the results of earlier studies worldwide: Electronic Stability Control is remarkably effective in preventing single vehicle crashes-especially SUV rollovers.

Paul E. Green and John Woodrooffe presented their findings at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s government-industry meeting last month. Like other researchers from Sweden to Japan, they found that ESC can significantly reduce the risk of a single vehicle crash. Using 1995-2003 data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and the General Estimates System (GES), Green and Woodrooffe constructed a case-controlled study, comparing accidents of vehicles of similar makes and models, with and without ESC, in loss-of-control crashes-such as single-vehicle crashes, run-off-the-road crashes, rollovers, and crashes in which the roads were not dry. Continue reading →

NHTSA Rejects Auto-Reverse Petition; New Rule Prohibits Rocker and Toggle Window Switches

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Reprinted from The Safety Record, V3, Issue 3, May / June 2006

Washington, D.C. – The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has again denied a petition from safety advocates requesting that the agency require automakers to install an auto-reverse function in their power windows, but has implemented a provision in the latest highway safety bill requiring switches that raise a power window only when the switch is pulled up or out. Continue reading →

Judge Orders NHTSA To Revisit Early Warning Records Rulemaking

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Reprinted from The Safety Record, V3 Issue 3, May/June 2006

Washington, D.C. – A U.S. District Court judge has kicked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration final rule on the confidentiality of records submitted under the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act back to the agency. On March 31, Judge Robert Leon found that NHTSA “pulled a switcheroo” when it published its Business Information Confidentiality rule regarding the confidentiality of defect-related information in the early warning database established under TREAD nearly three years ago, and did not allow adequate opportunity for public comment. Continue reading →

Rubber Makers Claim Survey of Scrap Tires Show Age Doesn’t Determine Tire Life

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The Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) presented NHTSA with the results of a scrap tire survey claiming that the results show chronological age doesn’t determine tire service life. The association presented the data at the recent government – industry meeting in an attempt to address the continual questions about tire service life and the necessity of expiration dates.

The survey was based on tires removed from service in five geographical regions of the U.S. The RMA collected information on randomly selected trailer loads of scrap tires from scrap tire processors’ facilities. A total of 14,271 tires from seven locations were examined for the date code, repairs, tread wear, and road damage. Continue reading →

Cooper Tire Subverts Evidence, Investigative Process, Attorney Alleges

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Reprinted from The Safety Record, V. 3 Issue 3, May / June 2006

Did Cooper Tire knowingly hire a felon convicted of insurance fraud charges to spirit away physical evidence of failed tires before police investigators or plaintiffs’ attorney could collect or analyze then? And where is a key piece of evidence in a 2001 tread separation case that was taken from the accident scene?

These are the questions plaguing Loza V. Cooper, a Phoenix rollover case, set for trial this September. In September 2001, Elisa Loza was the rear-seat passenger in a 1996 Ford Super Club E350 with Cooper-made Hercules all-track radial LTs. Her husband was driving on a highway near Gila Bend, Arizona, when, her estate alleges, a Cooper tire experienced a tread separation. Mrs. Loza died in the rollover accident that resulted. Continue reading →

Newly Released Documents and Data Highlight Explorer Rollover Problems

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Six years ago, Ford Motor Company laid the blame for Explorer rollovers on defective Firestone tires, but newly available data shows that even with replacement tires, tire-related rollover crashes in Explorers are growing and internal documents unearthed during recent litigation show that the popular SUV’s stability problems are also rooted in vehicle design. Continue reading →

Two Tire Makers Add Tire Aging Replacement Guidelines for U.S. Market

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Continental and Michelin recently issued Technical Bulletins on tire aging, joining a growing chorus of tire manufacturers and automakers issuing tire age replacement guidelines for the U.S. market. These bulletins are nearly identical to the Bridgestone-Firestone October 2005 recommendation that specified all tires should be removed after 10 years regardless of the remaining tread depth. They also follow guidelines published in overseas markets that have been in circulation for several years (Safety Record V3, Issue 1). Continue reading →

States Rights Advocates Attack NHTSA Roof Crush Preemption Proposal

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A provision in National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s proposed roof crush standard that would preempt state tort law would transfer the societal costs of caring for rollover crash victims to the states, discourage manufacturers from improving vehicles’ crashworthiness and usurp Congressional authority, a diverse group of influential commenters has argued.

For the first time in 32 years, the NHTSA is proposing to strengthen vehicle roofs and extend the standard to cover vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of 10,000 pounds, as part of an alleged “comprehensive plan for reducing the risk of death and serious injury from rollover crashes.” The proposed regulation would increase the force that vehicles are required to withstand from 1.5 to 2.5 times their unloaded vehicle weight and replace the 22,240 Newton maximum force limit for passenger cars. It would also change the certifying test from the current plate movement limit of 5 inches with a new direct limit on headroom reduction. (See The Safety Record, V2, I4). Continue reading →