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Feds Asked to Reverse Auto Safety "Secrets" Rule

January 3, 2007

• Court Upholds Public Access to Crash Data • Company Sues Feds For Release Of Safety Data • Feds Asked to Reverse Auto Safety "Secrets" Rule • NHTSA's Dirty Little Secrets • Consumer Group Sues For Release of Recall Data --- • Auto Safety News

A proposed set of new federal rules endangers consumer safety and restricts the rights of consumers to educate themselves on the safety of future car purchases, the American Association for Justice (AAJ) charged. It urged the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) to withdraw the rule.

"These unwarranted rule changes by the federal agency charged with ensuring the public's safety allow the automobile industry to hide information about the safety of their vehicles and ultimately evade responsibility for negligence," said Jon Haber, CEO of the AAJ.

NHTSA's proposed rules exempt the auto industry from revealing crucial safety information on their vehicles. The exemption includes the divulging of consumer complaints, which have consistently proven to be the most effective method of keeping dangerous vehicles off the roads, Haber said.

In a letter to Michael Kido, Chief Counsel at the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, AAJ noted that the proposed rule changes violate both the Freedom of Information Act and its subsequent common law interpretations.

Specifically, the new rules decrease public access to records (including documents that previously had been readily available to the public) and foster administrative secrecy for the benefit of the auto industry.

Under the newly proposed rules, consumer complaints and individual companies' safety data would be classified as "trade secrets" -- and thus be made unavailable to the public.

This data -- gathered and maintained by public employees at taxpayer expense -- is crucial for consumers making important decisions about such an expensive purchase, and one which potentially could be life-changing in the event of an accident, AAJ said.

Haber said that restricting consumers from accessing this data only serves the interest of the auto industry -- not the lives of the over 200 million US motorists on the roads. He said keeping the rules as they are now would alternatively signal an agency commitment to strict safety standards and industry accountability.

AAJ sent the letter in response to the NHTSA's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the confidentiality of information submitted by motor vehicle and equipment manufacturers.

AAJ was formerly known as the American Trial Lawyers Association.

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