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Editorials
Monday, September 18, 2000Tougher regulations
needed on tire safetyThe issue: Legislation has been introduced in Congress aimed at improving auto and tire safety in the wake of the Firestone tire controversy.
THE Firestone tire fiasco has exposed a gaping hole in federal safety reporting requirements. Particularly disturbing is the fact that Ford Motor Co. recalled tires on its vehicles in 16 foreign countries without notifying the U.S. government. Notification might have resulted in faster action and saved dozens of lives -- and spared Ford and Firestone a crushing blow to their reputations.
At a congressional hearing last week, Bridgestone/Firestone Inc.'s chief executive officer, Masatoshi Ono, apologized for Firestone's slowness in responding to the problem while Ford's CEO, Jacques Nasser, charged that Bridgestone/Firestone withheld information that could have led to a quicker recall.
Now a bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives aimed at improving auto and tire safety in the wake of the scandal. Similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate.
The TREAD Act -- for Transportation Reporting Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation -- seeks to improve consumer protection and communication between auto and tire manufacturers and the federal government. It would strengthen the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's authority to collect information about possibly defective products and expand its budget for investigations.
The bill, sponsored by Fred Upton, R-Mich., would require auto and tire manufacturers to report any defects on American tires or automobiles sold in foreign countries.
The legislation also would require tire manufacturers to periodically report claims data to NHTSA, increase the time under which tire manufactures must make free repairs on faulty products, increase penalties for violations and direct NHTSA to update its tire safety standard. It calls for an additional $500,000 for NHTSA investigators to handle the increased work load.
Upton commented, "Clearly, NHTSA and others were asleep at the wheel, and we are looking to move bipartisan legislation in the fast lane to correct it."
The congressional session ends in less than in a month. It will be difficult for the bill to win final action before adjournment.
Eighty-eight deaths over the past decade have been linked to the defective tires although the investigation is still in progress. Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. recalled 6.5 million ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT tires on Aug. 9, but many tire owners have to wait as the company tries to produce enough replacements.
"What this bill tries to do is to make sure that even if a company isn't going to do the right thing on their own, that the federal government has the tools to force them to do the right thing," said Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M. "And I think it's kind of sad that we've come to that point."
Ordering a recall of a product is not an easy decision for manufacturers. Sometimes they need to be prodded by federal regulators. A more effective prod is clearly indicated in this case.
Myanmar dissident
THE battle of wills between the military government of Myanmar (formerly Burma) and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been going on for years. But the 55-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate vows to press on.
Twice in the past two years authorities have prevented Suu Kyi from leaving the capital, leading to widespread condemnation of the military government.
Suu Kyi, her driver and about a dozen of her colleagues in the National League for Democracy were stopped by security forces on Aug. 24 while attempting to travel to a party meeting outside Yangon. The police refused to let them travel further. Rather than return to Yangon, the group set up camp by the side of the road. Finally the authorities ended the standoff by force.
Between Sept. 2 and last Thursday, Suu Kyi and her colleagues were kept confined to their homes in Yangon. At that point the authorities ended what had been virtual house arrest. But the next day Suu Kyi vowed to attempt another excursion outside the capital within 10 days to test the government's restrictions on her movements.
Suu Kyi's League for Democracy won Myanmar's last democratic elections in 1990 by a landslide but was not allowed to govern. The military regime cracked down and Suu Kyi spent the next six years under house arrest.
At the United Nations, Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the lifting of restrictions on Suu Kyi and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said she was "gratified."
But Suu Kyi wasn't mollified. "We are nowhere in a satisfactory position at the moment. We are back to abnormal," she told a news conference.
Annan issued a statement reiterating his call "for the government of Myanmar to engage in a substantive political dialogue with opposition leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, to initiate the process of national reconciliation as soon as possible."
After 10 years, the ruling junta must be tired of Suu Kyi but the generals don't know how to stop her protests. Her answer is by restoring democracy, and she's sticking to it.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
