A Question of Public Safety

Whistleblowers regularly come to my office with information they believe will right a wrong and protect public safety.

The latest example is whether the government thoroughly investigated a potential cause of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.

The whistleblowers presented materials showing that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration might have overlooked or downplayed investigative findings on something called “tin whiskers.”  This is a phenomenon causing microscopic filaments to develop on electronic devices, which might cause malfunctions in the electrical system, possibly resulting in unintended acceleration.  

I’m not an electrical engineer, and neither is anyone on my staff.  All we can do is rely on the technical analyses prepared for and by the federal agencies whose job consists of ensuring vehicular safety for the driving public.

The analyses don’t overplay the prospect of tin whiskers, but they don’t discount it, either.  However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration appears to have overlooked this finding and concluded tin whiskers are not cause for significant concern.  And the agency is proposing regulations to fix a problem it says doesn’t exist.  That doesn’t make sense.

I’ve asked the agency to explain whether its review of the tin whiskers phenomenon or other potential causes of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles was too narrow, and if so, whether its conclusions were premature.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a big job.   Public safety requires top performance from this agency, and oversight will help ensure that that’s the case.

Monday, July 16, 2012