GOP Lawmakers Seek Safety-Rule Exemption for Trailers

[Khephra]

Two Republican lawmakers have added language to a transportation spending bill that would exempt some trailer manufacturers from having to report safety data to the federal government.

Manufacturers and their allies called the move a common-sense solution to burdensome reporting requirements. But safety groups and some trucking organizations have said the language could create a dangerous loophole. Congress imposed the safety rules in 2000, in the wake of numerous fatal accidents involving Firestone tires.

The proposed language -- just a few lines in a massive transportation appropriations bill that has passed the House and awaits Senate action -- would bar the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration from using money to enforce compliance with the reporting rules for trailers weighing 26,000 pounds or less. These trailers haul horses, boats, snowmobiles and other loads.

Under the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation Act, or TREAD, these manufacturers must submit an array of information to the safety administration including consumer complaints, field reports on possible defects and warranty information about tire problems. The measure imposes fines and prison sentences on executives who mislead the government on safety defects, and was aimed at major auto manufacturers such as Ford, whose Explorers were at the center of the Firestone tire controversy.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17435-2003Oct12.html

[Khephra]

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