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| Wilson Co-sponsored Bi-Partisan Auto Safety Legislation Introduced In Wake of Tire Hearings |
September 13, 2000 |
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| WASHINGTON, DC--A bi-partisan group of House Commerce Committee members today in introduced the Transportation Reporting Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation Act, or, TREAD act; a bill aimed at improving communication and consumer protection measures between the auto industry, tire manufacturers and the federal government. Congresswoman Wilson is an original co-sponsor of the bill along with Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), Chairman of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations who co-chaired last week’s hearings that looked into 88 deaths, nine of which occurred in New Mexico, associated with the use of Firestone tires.
“We owe it to the families who lost loved ones to change the system,” said Wilson. “Two of the people who died over the Memorial Day weekend, and their unborn baby, were my constituents. Firestone knew they had a problem and they did nothing about it. Firestone was focused so heavily on their profitability and liability that they forgot about their responsibility to the consumer. This legislation will give the government the power they need to ensure that a tragedy like this doesn`t happen in the future."
More specifically, the bill requires auto and tire manufacturers to report any defects on American tires or automobiles sold in foreign countries. During the hearing last week, the Subcommittee found that Firestone was concerned about recalling tires sold overseas for fear of having to notify federal regulators. Additionally, the bill requires tire manufacturers to periodically report claims data to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), increases the time period under which tire manufacturers must repair or replace faulty products, substantially increases penalties for noncompliance and directs NHTSA to update its tire safety standards which has not been updated since 1968. The bill also authorizes additional funds for NHTSA’s Office of Defects and Investigations to handle the potential increased workload.
“It was clear from testimony at the hearing last week that new rules were needed to close the loophole in the law that allowed Ford and Firestone to replace defective tires overseas without notifying US safety officials,” Wilson stated. “This bill will close the loophole and thus provide American consumers with the added security they deserve. I am also pleased that we were able to include provisions that will strengthen the punishment of companies that fail to properly report product safety problems. This is an extremely important piece of legislation and I would hope that he Congress will act prior to adjourning for the year in October.”
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