Since the 1960s, when car safety became an issue and relevant laws were drafted, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has had a history of prevailing over recall issues that end up in court.
In the last four and a half decades, 10 disputes over NHTSA ended up in court. NHTSA won eight times and only the two most recent cases, in 1987 and 1998, did the automakers get a verdict in their favor.
Obviously, such legal feuds are few and far between as the vast majority of recalls are voluntarily issued by automakers themselves and the remaining after an NHTSA order that’s not contested.
Last month, five automakers were summoned by the agency and were ordered to issue nationwide recall campaigns over the driver-side defective Takata airbags. NHTSA’s deputy administrator David Freedman said that they were prepared to “force” automakers if they didn’t initiate a recall themselves. Four out of five carmakers had complied until last Friday.
When the NHTSA issues a recall and the manufacturer disagrees, like Takata has on the airbag debacle, it can make an “initial” decision and hold a public hearing about the recall. Then, after examining the evidence, it can make a “final” decision and order a recall, which the manufacturer has the right to contest in a federal court.
“In the cases where there have been detailed analyses done and the NHTSA has made a safety-related defect conclusion, they tipycally do prevail in a court challenge”, lawyer Deanne Ottaviano, who advices automakers on NHTSA rules, told Autonews.
As mentioned earlier, the two latest cases were lost by the NHTSA. The first was a trial against GM concerning its “X” cars, like the Chevrolet Citation, Pontiac Phoenix and Oldsmobile Omega, had a defect that may lead to a premature rear wheel lock up. Instead of conducting an investigation, the agency sued GM for a recall order – and lost because, as Ottaviano pointed out, “they were relying on consumer complaints. In that case , the court said there was no scientific analysis”.
The second loss was an appeal against Chrysler over seat belt anchors that weren’t actually defective but they were, nevertheless, non-compliant. The court decided in favor of the Pentastar, as it hadn’t been notified as early as it should for the change in regulations.