Feds Slow; States Fast
While delays in government processes should come as no surprise, during the months Foreign Tire Sales was investigating the possibility of defects in the Compass, Telluride, Westlake and YKS tires imported from China, nearly a half-million potentially dangerous tires were still in use on light trucks.
The process started, May, 2007, with the lawsuit filed by the families of the two deceased and one seriously injured passengers in the roll-over accident caused by defective tires imported by FTS. The company had stopped importing the tires made by Hangzhou Rubber Co. once the missing or reduced gum strip defect was discovered. But the lawsuit, rather than the discovery of the defect, initiated the defect report to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration in June of that year.
It took a month for FTS to gather the information from the Chinese manufacturer and an additional two months to work out the details and scope of the recall. In testimony before a Senate committee, the NHTSA blamed inadequate regulations for the delay, maintaining existing regulations do not deal with importers refusing to recall defective product. FTS’ “refusal” was based on lack of funds to handle the replacement and disposal of the defective tires.
Individual states, however, were not hog-tied by regulations. Twenty-four state attorney generals ordered a recall of the tires sold in their states in early August. Washington state issued an alert outlining the brand names, sizes and state tire stores that had sold the tires in question. Once the recall was officially launched, full details for replacement of the defective tires were issued.
Once the publicity on the defective imported tires hit the media, U.S. politicians added their voices. The heat of the response was stoked by a series of dangerous consumer goods imported from China, including tainted dog food and toys decorated with lead-based paint. Individual Senators’ responses ranged from a demand for some form of government action aimed at China’s flawed safety inspections to a letter requesting President Bush force the NHTSA to expedite the recall.
If you have been involved in a tire-related accident, contact us using the form on the right and we’ll help you locate an attorney.
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