December 2, 2005

Detroit Free Press, "Group calls for Ford to unseal safety tests"

          A Washington auto-safety group launched a new effort Thursday to unseal safety tests from Ford Motor Co.'s Volvo division, saying the tests highlight flaws in a new standard for vehicle roof strength backed by federal regulators and automakers.

          While the contents of the documents are well known, safety advocates say making them publicly available would force the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to rethink its new rule for how well car and truck roofs should protect people in rollovers.

          Ford, which has fought legal battles in several states over the documents, contends they reveal trade secrets and should remain hidden from public view.

          Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, filed a motion Thursday in a Florida state court to release the documents. They were made public briefly earlier this year, in a trial in which a jury ordered Ford to pay $10.2 million for a woman's death in a Ford Explorer rollover accident. The judge in the case ordered the documents resealed, but not before several groups received copies.

          Joan Claybrook, Public Citizen's president, said the group had planned to put the documents on its Web site earlier this year but stopped after Ford threatened to sue.

          "Ford is going to challenge this all the way, because the contents of these documents show that the roofs of vehicles could be made far safer than they are today and far safer than the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has proposed," Claybrook said

          Roof strength has become a key concern among auto-safety experts as the number of Americans dying in rollovers has grown to more than 10,000 a year.