Court Upholds Public Access to Crash Data

Information can save lives, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that data on crashes resulting in death, injury and property damage is in fact subject to release under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Advocacy group Public Citizen appealed a former 2002 rule to ensure public disclosure of critical data known as Early Warning Reporting data (EWR) which can assist NHTSA is spotting safety defects in motor vehicles. The Rubber Manufacturers Association contended that the EWR data was exempt from FOIA disclosure rules. Since 2003, manufacturers have been required to submit the EWR information under the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act, but the U.S. Department of Transportation has been keeping the information secret pending a ruling.

The decision in this case, known as Public Citizen v. Peters, vindicated Public Citizen's efforts to promote public disclosure of the data. The court of appeals based its ruling on what it called the "plain language of the TREAD Act," which "means what it says" - and it doesn't say that early warning data is exempt from FOIA. "The TREAD Act was intended to prevent needless deaths and injuries, like those in the Ford/Firestone tire tragedy, by giving regulators and the public quick access to information manufacturers have about crashes involving their products," said Public Citizen’s Joan Claybrook.