Agency Missed Early Tire Warnings Essays - Tires, American Brands

Agency Missed Early Tire Warnings _____Correction_____ In some Sept. 12 editions, a headline in the Business section misstated how the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration handled some complaints about Firestone tires. The headline should have said, as it did in other editions, that the agency missed the complaints. By Cindy Skrzycki Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday , September 12, 2000 ; Page E01 On Nov. 30, 1998, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received a letter from a Ford Explorer owner who said his Firestone tire tread peeled off like an orange. Imagine my shock when the mechanics looked at my tire and told me I was lucky to be alive, the letter said, adding that the mechanics told him that Firestone tires on Explorers are known to lose tread and contribute to or cause Ford Explorers to flip. This was among as many as 26 consumer complaints about Firestone tires, filed since the early 1990s, that NHTSA overlooked in January, when reviewing whether to open an investigation into reports of Firestone tire problems. NHTSA had missed the consumer complaints because of the way its database is organized: They weren't filed under Firestone as tire problems; they were filed under Ford as vehicle problems. NHTSA, the federal agency responsible for tracking information about potential auto safety defects, did open an investigation into Firestone tires May 2--after news reports of tire failures that resulted in fatal accidents. And NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson said yesterday that the additional complaints would not have prompted the agency to move any sooner. In the past, the agency has opened investigations with far fewer complaints. It looked into problems with Michelin tires in 1994 based on five complaints. The overlooked complaints--detailing incidents of tire blowouts, tread separations and other accidents involving Firestone tires mounted on Ford vehicles--illustrate how difficult it has been for federal investigators to piece together a clear picture of what went wrong with the 6.5 million tires that Firestone recalled last month. The letters might have provided earlier clues to the scope and gravity of the problems--which have since been linked to 88 deaths in the United States. In January, a safety-defects specialist with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told his superiors in a memo that he had been monitoring Firestone-tire complaints for more than a year but had counted only seven in 1998 and eight in 1999 involving the type of tires that later would be recalled. But the specialist had missed other complaints dating back several years because when he searched the database he looked for complaints listed under Firestone ATX and Wilderness (two types of the recalled tires). The data indicates a slight trend of failures in Firestone ATX tires, the specialist, Steve Beretzky, wrote in the Jan. 31 memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post. But, he continued, I don't believe it is strong enough to open an initial evaluation. Beretzky said the number of complaints was small compared with the number of tires manufactured, and even when the agency called consumers in 1999 based on seeing a similar trend, the information gathered did not add up to a case. NHTSA's Tyson said that even if the agency had taken note of the additional complaints, the number was not sufficient to have prompted it to open an investigation at that time. Opening an investigation is among the agency's first steps in a process that can lead it to order a recall of unsafe vehicles or auto parts. Called vehicle owner questionnaires, many of these complaints include photographs of the accidents, insurance reports, and copies of letters and bills sent to Ford Motor Co. and Firestone for damage done to Explorers from tire blowouts. For instance, on Sept. 7, 1997, NHTSA received a letter from an angry Texas motorist who said she lost control of her 1992 Explorer when her rear passenger side tire lost its tread: I hit an 18-wheeler and bounced off his truck--twice. I then crossed the median of Highway 288 toward oncoming traffic, she wrote. I have and will continue to tell everyone that these tires are a hazard and should be recalled. Tyson said it's a quirk of the database that the Ford complaints didn't pop up when Beretzky was searching for tire data. But even without reviewing the full universe of

Load Shedding Term Essays

Load Shedding Term Essays Load Shedding Term Essay Load Shedding Term Essay The elections of 2008 and 2013 have been lost by incumbents because of load-shedding. The next government has been chosen by the electorate for its reputation for completing projects it fancies, come what may. Naturally, it expects the same to see the end of load-shedding. So deep is the penetration of the power related anger in the public at large that even a hint of the continuation of the inaction of the past may bring the government down sooner than later.Pakistan may be among the countries with the lowest consumption of energy per capita, but every power failure transmits the message of incompetence to almost all households in a split second. The vibes coming from the PML-N suggest that the Mian brothers are suffering from too much advice. The worst piece of advice was on load-shedding. Nawaz Sharif went public with describing load-shedding as problem number one. But he would not commit on a deadline. He made fun of Shahbaz Sharif for giving such deadlines.Fair enough, if he himself had not given deadlines on other issues. Why, might one ask, have a programme for the first 100 days of government? Is this laundry list even necessary? There are only three issues that deserve the fullest attention of the government in the first 100 days: load-shedding, load-shedding and net outflow of capital. For the rest, work should start on a financeable medium-term programme. By announcing the finance minister first and the energy minister afterwards, the leadership seemed indecisive about the order of priorities.By luck, some new power projects started by the previous government might mature in 1,000 days. The public understands that new supply cannot be added to the system in the immediate or near term. What is entirely possible in 100 days is to take effective measures on three counts - conservation, efficiency and, for lack of a better term, governance. Taken seriously by all and sundry, conservation alone can add upwards of 1,500MW. Efficiency or energy intensity is another area that can augment supply in a short time.Pakistan uses more energy to produce one dollar of its GDP than countries with a much higher GDP per capita. There are well-known ways of improving energy efficiency at the level of households, businesses and government. Finally, governance has become the Achilles’ heel of the energy sector. The so-called circular debt is its worst manifestation. Even if the present level of this huge debt is cleared up in one stroke, as Mian Nawaz Sharif has said he would, the problem can recur if the culture of not paying up on time and across-the-board subsidies continues.Receivables routinely exceed payables by wide margins because price does not cover cost, cost conceals theft and wastage and all players wait for the government to bail them out. Fuel allocation is distorted as no distinction is made between efficient and inefficient plants. From imported coal to gas, the priority for electricity to captive plants is a cobweb of corruption and vested interests, nurtured by a structure that is decentralised in name only.As for the net capital outflow, I have been saying and will say it again that there is no need to rush to the IMF. Regulatory duty on inessential imports, recovery of the overdue $800 million from Etisalat and a transparent 3G auction will support fiscal, as well as current account balance, for 100 days. This is enough time to prepare a national reform programme and think carefully about whether to implement it with or without the IMF. Published in The Express Tribune, May 24th, 2013.