WASHINGTON (April 23)—Tire manufacturers' common green tire lists—covering basic tire constructions for various tire models and brands—should be placed in a confidential class, but death, injury and property damage claim data should be available to the public, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has ruled.
The Rubber Manufacturers Association sought to keep all data submitted under NHTSA's new "early warning" rule confidential, while the Public Citizen Litigation Group insisted that all early warning data should be accessible to the public.
Getting the confidential classification for common green tire lists was "an important move forward for the industry," said Ann Wilson, RMA senior vice president, "but we believe all information should be kept confidential because of the statutory construction." The RMA can appeal this decision, she said, "but Public Citizen has a field suit demanding that all the information should be made public, and that is the focus of current discussions."