Detroit Free Press, "U.S. keeping crash data secret"

          Federal auto safety officials are backtracking on a pledge to give consumers access to detailed data on which cars and trucks may be linked to deaths, injuries and property damage. The reason: Tire makers have sued to prevent its release. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says it will hold off indefinitely on releasing the information while the lawsuit by the country's largest tire makers is argued and decided, which could take months, if not years. Consumer advocates have been clamoring for the release of such data since the 2000 Ford-Firestone rollover debacle.
          Auto experts say these data on vehicle deaths, injuries, property damage and what specific parts may have caused the problem would be of great interest to car and truck shoppers, who often make their buying decisions based on a vehicle's safety records and reliability. "If you own a car or truck and have a problem with it, or are shopping for a new car or truck, you'd want to see if there were a number of deaths or injuries with that vehicle. It's really disheartening to see NHTSA opting for secrecy in the area of vehicle safety," said Sally Greenberg, senior product safety counsel for Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports magazine.
          Until last week, the government said it had made or would make available to the public the new vehicle safety data, including details on the make, model and year of a vehicle in which someone died or was injured, and what vehicle part or system may have caused the accident. But following a Freedom of Information Act request by the Free Press, NHTSA last week acknowledged this information was not available -- as it had said earlier. It also acknowledged it would not be made public until it deals with the lawsuit filed in June by the Rubber Manufacturers Association, a group that represents tire makers such as Bridgestone, Goodyear and Continental.