Tire age degradation hit the radar of safety advocates, regulators and members of Congress following the Firestone ATX / Wilderness recalls in 2000 and 2001 when experts concluded that age degradation played a role in the catastrophic failure of these tires. Since the recalls Safety Research & Strategies (SRS) began examining what was known about the issue worldwide and found startling evidence that both tire and vehicle manufacturers have known tires, whether or not they are actually used, can experience tread separations due to internal oxidative aging, a process that is largely invisible. Following SRS’ docket submissions to NHTSA about their findings and an active campaign to alert the public of the danger through the media, some manufacturers have quietly started to address the issue. Continue reading
Category: Automotive
NHTSA Launches Quiet Campaign to Protect Industry
WASHINGTON, D.C. – If you didn’t already know it was there, you might have missed it entirely in the 45-page proposal to upgrade the roof crush resistance standard: a one-sentence clause tucked in Part 13 amid federal boilerplate, indemnifying manufacturers who met the proposed standard from lawsuits alleging a defect.
Known as a preemption clause, NHTSA’s August 19 proposal was the second time in as many months the federal agency has wrapped civil justice reform and auto safety standards into one package that is rousing the ire of consumer advocates, plaintiffs’ attorneys, and those concerned about Federalism and cost of care transfer from the industry to the public sector. Continue reading
Ford Continues Fight to Seal Volvo Roof Strength Documents
Since Ford Motor Company purchased Volvo in 1999 and made the company a division of its Premier Auto Group, Ford has reaped significant profits from the Swedish automaker whose hallmark is safety. But, Ford is also inheriting a headache as Volvo’s position on important safety issues conflicts with those of it corporate parent-and these conflicts keep surfacing in the public despite Ford’s efforts to keep them secret. This conflict is playing out in litigation and in has seeped into the public in one of the most controversial areas of motor vehicle safety-occupant protection in rollover crashes. Continue reading
Frontal Offset Crash Test Regulation Scrapped
To the dismay of some highway safety groups, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has decided to withdraw a proposal to add a high speed frontal offset crash test to its occupant crash protection standard. Continue reading
European Pedestrian Crash Standards Will Make Global Changes in Car Design Inevitable
Imagine a Jag without the company’s signature image leaping off the front hood or an SUV outfitted with exterior airbags. In Europe, that metal cat is already extinct and those airbags are on their way in, under new European Union pedestrian impact regulations that will take effect in October. Although American automakers are not embracing these changes, manufacturers and suppliers say that the global drive to increase pedestrian safety coupled with the global nature of the auto industry will eventually affect cars sold in the U.S., possibly forcing changes to auto design, price, styles and fuel efficiency. Continue reading
“Aged” Tire Case Numbers Grow: Spares and Used tires Top the List
Following Firestone, SRS began tracking cases involving “aged” tires-tires older than 6-years-that have failed catastrophically causing crashes. With more than 65 documented cases, several patterns are emerging. Nearly one-third of these cases involved spare tires, approximately one-third were tires purchased used. The remaining cases involve tires that were mounted on little-used sports cars, old stock sold as new, or their histories are unknown. What links all of these cases together is the fact that the tires have ample tread and appear safe when they are put into service. Continue reading
Inspector General Finds NHTSA Over Budget and Under Performing in Early Warning System
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a second audit report related to NHTSA performance and cited the agency’s poor implementation and cost overruns associated with the Advanced Retrieval Tire, Equipment, Motor Vehicle Information System (ARTEMIS). ARTEMIS is the NHTSA system developed to analyze and identify trends in the early warning reporting data required from manufacturers (following the TREAD Act) that includes reports on deaths and injuries, property damage and warranty data. Continue reading
District Court Rules “Regional Recalls” are Legal
In response to a lawsuit filed by Center for Auto Safety and Public Citizen alleging NHTSA was illegally allowing regional recalls, U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle, published an opinion finding that controversial practice is not in violation of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act or the Administrative Procedure Act (http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/04-392a.pdf). The opinion also affirmed that the agency had the ability to exercise its discretion to determine whether regional recalls are appropriate. Regional recalls may include an entire state, counties within a state, or a cluster of states within a geographical region. The plaintiffs were seeking a declaration that the government’s role in regional recalls is unlawful. They were also seeking an order prohibiting the NHTSA from allowing automakers to conduct these types of recalls in the future. [Center for Auto Safety, Public Citizen v. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, 04-392 (ESH)]. Continue reading
Electronic Stability Control Update
Industry watchers and safety advocates have monitored ESC since its introduction in 1995 as a solution to loss of control crashes and subsequent rollovers. At its inception the technology, which brings together ABS, traction control, and a host of vehicle sensors, was thought to have been one of the most significant safety advances since airbags. A decade later, most consumers still haven’t heard of or don’t know what ESC does, yet real-world data and testing continue to show ESC has enormous benefits in crash prevention. Continue reading
Early Warning data Prompts Another Bridgestone/Firestone Recall
For the second time this year BFS has recalled tires allegedly based on unfavorable early warning data-the data that manufacturers are required to provide NHTSA following the Ford/Firestone recalls and the subsequent TREAD Act. This time BFS is recalling 250,000 Bridgestone Dueler A/T 693 replacement tires, size LT285/75R16, Load Range D, made in Tosu, Japan (plant code “EJ”), beginning in July 1, 1998 through July 31, 2002. The company estimates 27,000 are left in service.
Despite NHTSA assertions that portions of the TREAD data would be available for public scrutiny, the agency reneged on this promise and is now facing litigation vying for its release. NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson claims “There is more than ever out there for consumers, as much as anyone could want.” Tyson asserts “If we let all of the information be made public, it would have a chilling effect on the data we get. If, for example, warranty data got out, manufacturers might quit offering warranties or quit handling problems via warranty.”
In a press statement BFS indicated
“Recent data reviewed as part of the company’s early warning system suggests that a small percentage of these tires may experience belt detachment, especially if they have been operated below recommended inflation pressures for the load carried by the tire or above recommended loads. A belt detachment of this kind can, in rare instances, lead to a loss of control of a vehicle and a possible crash.”
The company also claimed that performance of the recalled tires differs from other Dueler tires, including those of the same size and type that were manufactured after July 31, 2002. BFS in an August 20, 2004 letter to NHTSA states that the recalled tires are not defective, but the company is “taking this action . . . to avoid potential future issues.”
Once again the public has no means to verify or assess the data that led to this recall. We are expected to accept the manufacturer’s judgment and that of under-staffed, under-funded agency that regulates them. Given BFS’s past record, and despite the many talented and knowing staff members at NHTSA, this is a dangerous policy that affects the public’s oversight and ability to monitor important safety matters.
Yes Mr. Tyson, there is indeed more information than ever before, but we are left wanting as the public still doesn’t have access to it.
Copyright © Safety Research & Strategies, Inc., 2004