Issues

CAS Comments on NHTSA’s New Car Assessment Program (NCAP)

June 9, 2022

RE: New Car Assessment Program, [Docket No. NHTSA-2021-0002] June 8, 2022 Thank you the opportunity the comment on National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), New Car Assessment Program [Docket No. NHTSA-2021-0002] request for comments (RFC).1 The Center for Auto Safety (CAS), founded in 1970, is an independent, member supported, non-profit consumer advocacy organization dedicated to…

Goodyear Recalls Tires That Federal Government Says Had High Failure Rate

June 8, 2022

Michael Brooks, the acting executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, said that the recall was an important first step toward holding Goodyear accountable. “This was essentially a successful cover-up until now,” Mr. Brooks said, adding that the government and legal system had long failed to protect the American…

Goodyear to recall RV tires 19 years after last one was made

June 7, 2022

Michael Brooks, acting executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, said the Goodyear case is one that exposes every flaw in the system designed to keep unsafe tires and vehicles off the roads. By Tom Krisher June 7, 2022 Nineteen years after the last one was made, Goodyear has agreed to recall more…

Tesla Faces Increase in Complaints Over ‘Phantom Braking’

June 3, 2022

“That is a huge number of complaints in a short time, and indicates that NHTSA’s probe should be stepping up,” said Michael Brooks, acting executive director and chief counsel of the Center for Auto Safety. “We have hundreds of owners per month reporting false activation of their emergency braking systems, and untold numbers of others…

Millions of airbags eject shrapnel, SF lawsuit claims

May 27, 2022

“The people who own these vehicles are literally sitting there for years, possibly in fear for their lives, with an an explosive device sitting right in their face,” said Michael Brooks, Acting Executive Director of the Center for Auto Safety. By Bay City News May 26, 2022 (BCN) – A 95-page nationwide class action complaint…

2 Investigates: Kia models left off recall list also prone to dangerous engine fires

May 26, 2022

The Center for Auto Safety was the first to petition NHTSA about Kia fire safety dangers. Its acting executive director Michael Brooks says Jordan had no way to know of a potential risk when he picked up his rental car. “There’s literally no way for that person to know, when they walk in there and…

Drivers complain of ‘phantom braking’ on some newer model vehicles, NHTSA investigating

May 26, 2022

“AEB is all over the place. We’re seeing different results. Some don’t work great at high speeds and don’t work great with pedestrians especially at night,” remarked Michael Brooks, Acting Executive Director of the Center for Auto Safety. By Cynthia Gould May 25, 2022 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBMA) — Complaints about vehicles suddenly slamming on brakes…

More people are dying on U.S. roads, even as cars get safer. Here’s why it’s a tough problem to solve.

May 23, 2022

“It looks like the major component of this rising fatalities is very behavioral, but that doesn’t mean we can’t stop it. We just have to be willing to,” Michael Brooks, Acting Executive Director of the Center for Auto Safety said. By Michael Wayland May 22, 2022 New vehicles on sale in the U.S. today are…

Tesla Steering Wheel and Dash

Feds investigate Newport Beach Tesla crash that killed three

May 20, 2022

The Center for Auto Safety says the technology’s rollout may have been premature. By CBS Los Angeles May 23, 2022 Click here to view the full story from CBS News Los Angeles.

Nearly 43,000 people died on US roads last year, agency says

May 17, 2022

The Transportation Department is moving in the right direction to stem the increase in deaths, but it will take years for many of the steps to work, said Michael Brooks, acting executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety. NHTSA, for instance, has regulations pending to require electronic automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection…