The slightest mention of safety standards seems to cause panic in the automobile industry and I can understand their concern about ill-considered regulation. But, there is no intent to propose impractical or unreasonable standards. The industry will be consulted at each step of the way. This is a matter of great public concern. The purpose of the proposed legislation is to find a way to reduce the death toll on the highways. Last year a very important step toward safety regulation of the automobile industry was taken when the Congress passed legislation authorizing the drafting of minimum safety standards for federally purchased automobiles. Several weeks ago I introduced a bill which would extend the new Federal safety standards for Government automobiles to all cars manufactured for, sold, or shipped in interstate commerce. We now know how to write safe standards for 60,000 publicly owned cars. The purpose of this measure is to give the benefit of such safety standards to the public as a whole. This proposal will establish a number of required safety features. Among these are: collapsible steering wheels, shoulder harness safety belt anchors, specific types of safety glass, smog removing exhaust systems, standardized transmission controls to avoid confusion, and uniform bumper heights. These new features have been tested, proven effective, and will be available in Government-purchased cars by 1967. Installation of these features will be of great benefit. And, there are other steps which will increase our ability to deal with this problem. A second proposal would authorize and provide funds to the Federal Government to develop and test a prototype safety car. Both the Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., and the engineering department of the University of Minnesota have developed "safety cars" with encouraging results. Some who have studied such designs contend that the adoption of special safety features could save as many as 640,000 lives over the next 15 years. I intend to introduce a bill to authorize safety car research in the near future. The need for Federal action in this area has been clearly demonstrated. We have the opportunity, the technological know-how, and the manpower to eliminate one of the greatest hazards to the motorist and the public as a whole. As this committee sudies the role of the Federal Government in traffic safety programs, I hope they will consider consolidating these responsibilities under one Federal agency and recommending sufficient authority to act effectively to reduce the unnecessary slaughter on our highways. If we are to make any progress in traffic safety and accident prevention, we must have an efficient and well-coordinated program. Senator RIBICOFF. Thank you. I have one or two questions for you, Senator. MARKETING OF AUTOMOBILE TIRES I have your recent statement before the Federal Trade Commission on the marketing of automobile tires. It is a very impressive statement. Without objection, I would like to have it made part of the record. (The statement follows:) EXHIBIT 2 REMARKS BY SENATOR GAYLORD NELSON BEFORE THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ON THE MARKETING OF AUTOMOBILE TIRES, JANUARY 13, 1965 Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the Federal Trade Commission for this opportunity to present testimony on tire safety. The Federal Trade Commission is to be commended for conducting this hearing. In the last year the need for action in this area has received important recognition from a variety of groups: State and Federal legislators, the industry, the press, and the private consumer. This interest is climaxed today with these hearings. A consensus has emerged, I think, that some constructive action must be taken to protect the life and the pocketbook of the consumer. The rising fatality rate on our highways can no longer be ignored. Just last week the National Safety Council, in an announcement that is becoming all too familiar, reported that more people had been killed on our highways over the recent New Year's weekend than ever before. The 1964-65 figure of 474 surpasses the previous alltime high for a 4-day New Year's weekend of 409 in 1956–57. This is a substantial increase and one that is not confined to holiday weekends. In December the council reported that deaths for the first 10 months of 1964 numbered 39,250, an 11-percent increase over the same period in 1963 and an alltime high. Beyond this, at least 1.4 million people suffered injuries that disabled them beyond the day of the accident in the first 10 months. The attack on this problem must be made on a number of fronts. This is one of them. The correlation between tire failure and traffic accidents has been proven. Turnpike and thruway studies of emergency road service calls show that about 20 percent are because of tire trouble. The National Safety Council reports that in 1962 tire failure accounted for 7 percent of all highway fatalities. For the same year the council also reported that in their safety check program 7.9 percent of all tires checked were defective. The evidence speaks for itself. We know that bald, worn, overloaded, or shoddily made tires cause accidents. We know that safe tires can save our lives. Unfortunately, however, we have no standards for judging how safe and durable a tire is. The problem is twofold: We do not have accurate information on tire safety and the consumer has no way to appraise existing hazy and contradictory information. A set of minimum safety standards should be applied to all tires so that the consumer will be protected from inadequate tires and so that he can have an idea of the quality and safety features of the product he is buying. Mr. A. J. White, director of motor vehicle research of New Hampshire, has done a great deal of research in this area. "It is generally accepted," he states, "that approximately 3 percent of all tires manufactured are substandard and will fail prematurely. *** Tire research already has greatly improved tire life, safety, and vehicle stability. Enough is known about tire design to improve almost every tire safety property further." Also needed is a system of grading or labeling to guide the consumer in comparing one brand with another and to clarify the present confusion of tire nomenclature. In January 1964 Senator Humphrey's Subcommittee on Retailing, Distribution, and Marketing Practices issued a report on the automobile tire industry, recommending the introduction of such a system of quality rating in the tire industry. I quote from this report: "The currently used complex methods of naming different brands or lines of tires is misleading and confusing to the public. The FTC Tire Advertising Guide' proscribes misleading terminology in advertisements, yet it does not provide for an objective standard of quality rating to be applied to all tires. Such a standard is needed as the average buyer is not equipped to rate the quality of tires. A system whereby tires are rated according to Government standards of safety, endurance, general quality, and construction, such as is done in the meat industry, would let the consumer know exactly what he is buying. Your subcommittee recommends that a system of quality rating would be in the interest of safe transportation and should be enacted." I would like to briefly review some of the recent actions taken in this area to further prove the general and widespread concern over tire safety. A great deal of credit must go to the New York State Joint Legislative Committee on Motor Vehicles and Traffic Safety and its former chairman, Senator Edward Speno. The legislation prepared by this committee and by former Congressman Kenneth Roberts, of Alabama, in the House has done much in bringing this problem to the fore. I have also submitted legislation in this area. Contrary to the popular feeling that there is no public interest in this problem, Mrs. Esther Peterson, Special Assistant to the President for Consumer Affairs, informs me that her office daily receives many complaints about faulty tires and misleading advertising. In a letter to me, Mrs. Peterson said: "The continuing number of traffic fatalities proves the need for further investigation of tires and some positive action to protect the consumer from any shoddy tire construction and deceptive tire advertising. * * * The public wants and has a right to know that what they are buying is safe." Mr. Chairman, I would like to insert a copy of Mrs. Peterson's letter in the record of this hearing. Further proof of the existence of this problem is evidenced in the response I received following the introduction of my safe standards tire bill in the last session of Congress. In addition to letters from private citizens with personal complaints, I received endorsements from purchasing agencies throughout the country. I would like to quote from several of these letters. The National Association of Purchasing Agents: "*** it is very gratifying to know that someone 'at the top' is interested in automobile tire standards. This is certainly one of the bigger headaches of the purchasing agent for a large municipality such as the city of Houston and we shall have our eyes upon the progress of this bill." The California Association of Public Purchasing Officers: "You have our wholehearted support and that of many other purchasing organizations throughout the country." City Purchasing Agency for Milwaukee, Wis. : "I heartily applaud your announced program to set certain standards on automobile tires to improve the safety and reduce the appalling death rate on the highways. *** The National Institute of Government Purchasing, the Wisconsin Association of Public Purchasers, and this buying agency heartily endorse and back your program for some adequate standards in the tire industry. * With many confusing terms and claims by the manufacturers of tires, the consumer has been in a quandary, especially the public buyers, for whom I am speaking, who are in an endless search to get specifications covering their tire requirements so that they can purchase these intelligently and competitively." Mr. Chairman, I think I should call attention to one more group which has been instrumental in this area, the National Tire Dealers & Retreaders Association. This organization, a trade group of approximately 3,400 tire dealers, has worked tirelessly for improvement of tire safety and has continually reaffirmed its support of uniform safety standards for tires. Dr. Warren W. Leigh, NTDRA marketing consultant, said recently that "The tire industry spends altogether too much time juggling tire names, qualities, and prices. It should wake up, establish some quality standards, and get away from the eternal higgling and bargaining." In response to various pressures exerted on it the industry, through the Rubber Manufacturers Association, issued last July a set of minimum tire safety standards which became effective January 1, 1965. To enforce these standards the association has contracted with an independent testing agency to conduct tests at random on the more than 900 tires which have been certified by the RMA. I am pleased to see the industry moving forward in this area but at the same time I am disturbed by the reception these new standards have received. Their adequacy has been questioned by many experts in the field. The National Tire Dealers & Retreaders Association, at its annual conference in September, passed a resolution acknowledging the RMA standards but calling them "inadequate to prevent the marketing of automobile tires and truck tires of undersized outside diameter, low quality, and questionable safety. ***” In reply to a request from me as to the effectiveness of the new standards, the Department of Commerce points out that many of the tests included in the Federal specifications for tires developed over 10 years ago are not part of the RMA standards. This raises a number of serious questions. But specifically it shows that the standards are not adequate because they have been formulated on superficial evidence. The Department maintains that "an extensive program of testing and evaluating would be needed to produce complete and reliable data on the numerous types and quality levels of tires now available to the public." I would like to insert this letter in the hearing record. These are technical questions and it would seem we must rely to a great extent on the opinions of experts in forming our judgments. And in this case the experts do not seem to be satisfied. Howard Freas, Commissioner of the Interstate Commerce Commission, which is presently engaged in drawing up new tire regulations for commercial vehicles, stated the problem well recently: "Safety is a public concern which must be accorded a precedence wholly apart from an economic distinction between private and for-hire carriers; it cannot be left wholly to self-regulation by the industry, no matter how enlightened its interest." I trust these hearings will provide the basis for drafting sound legislation. It would seem to me that any useful legislation would at least require minimum safety and performance standards and a system of grading or labeling. LACK OF INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC ON TIRE SAFETY Senator RIBICOFF. What concerns me is the lack of availability of this type of information to the public. My understanding is that the Federal Trade Commission has held a series of hearings on tire safety and has compiled a massive amount of information. To your knowledge, has this information on the safety factors of tires been made available to the public and to consumers' groups? Senator NELSON. The Federal Trade Commission did conduct extensive hearings. The record, I understand, is to be a matter of public information. It is open for public inspection. It would be expensive to print it. I have asked one of the members of my staff to read the record, which I understand to be approximately 1,000 pages. I am going to read it myself. A very reliable and distinguished reporter came into my office about a week ago and said that the statistics demonstrated in those FTC hearings were shocking. I think that it ought to be printed and made available for study by the Members of Congress, and made available for studies by the public. I understand, without having talked with the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, that the printing problem is one of cost. Senator RIBICOFF. Do you think both as a Member of Congress and as a member of the public that there is any justification for a Federal agency to develop information, which may affect the lives and safety of our people, and then not have it made available to the public? Don't you think that the Federal Trade Commission should make the results readily available to the Congress and the members of the press and the public as a whole? Senator NELSON. I think if the report has any value at all, it ought to be printed and made available for the public and the Members of the Congress. And as I said, I understand it to be a rather impressive report in terms of the statistics submitted on tires. I am going to look at it, and if it is necessary to make some moves in Congress in order to get funds for the Federal Trade Commission to be able to print it, then I think we ought to initiate it in Congress. Senator RIBICOFF. I want to commend you for the work you are doing in this field. I intend at a later hearing, when the members of the Federal Trade Commission are before this committee, to find out why this information, which is of value, should not be made available to the public. Senator NELSON. As to the Federal Trade Commission, a member of my staff who sat in on the hearings and others to whom I have spoken about it thought that the hearings were very well conducted and very fruitful, with fine expert testimony from many people all over the Nation. And therefore, I would be strongly inclined to the view that we ought to have printed reports of those hearings. I thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator RIBICOFF. Thank you very much, Senator Nelson. Our next witness is Postmaster General Gronouski. We welcome you here, Mr. Gronouski. You are responsible for operating probably the largest fleet of automobiles and trucks in the country. My understanding is that your Department operates 88,000 motor vehicles. Postmaster General GRONOUSKI. That is right, sir. STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN A. GRONOUSKI, POSTMASTER GENERAL; ACCOMPANIED BY RICHARD J. MURPHY, ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL FOR PERSONNEL; GEORGE C. NIELD, OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING; AND EDWARD B. LANDRY, DIRECTOR OF SAFETY AND HEALTH Postmaster General GRONOUSKI. Thank you Mr. Chairman. I didn't bring this group with me to outnumber the committee, as much as it may look that way. Rather, Mr. Richard Murphy, Assistant Postmaster General for Personnel, directly to my left, Mr. George Nield of our Office of Research and Engineering, and Mr. Edward Landry, our Director of Safety, are with me because they are most intimately involved in our highway safety program, and I thought perhaps you might want to direct some question to the technicians in our Department. Certainly, it is a pleasure for me to have the opportunity to appear before the committee this morning. As Postmaster General, my primary responsibility is moving the mail. But I have other responsibilities, too, which cannot be subordinated to efficiency. As the head of one of the world's largest civilian work forces, I have a solemn commitment to the safety and well-being of our nearly 600,000 employees. And, as the head of an organization which is in closer contact with the American people than any other agency of Government, I have a similar commitment to all of our citizens. TRAFFIC SAFETY IS OF VITAL CONCERN Certainly, one area of vital concern to me is that of traffic safety. As you noted earlier, we operate one of the largest fleets of motor vehicles in the country. This fleet consists of approximately 88,000 Government and privately owned vehicles, driven by 133,000 postal employees and traveling more than 1.1 billion miles each year. In addition, we have more than 22,000 star route contract vehicles traveling another 450 million miles per year. Further, we estimate that postal employee families own more than 300,000 motor vehicles. These, too, come under the scope of our concern. In other words, traffic safety is our business. It is a problem which cannot be ignored. As President Johnson has said, the staggering death toll on the highways "is clearly a major national problem. The rising cost in life and property must be reversed. I am convinced that a significant national effort is called for." MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT PREVENTION PROGRAM IN POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT To meet these responsibilities and challenges, the Post Office Department has a motor vehicle accident prevention program. This program is supervised by a staff of professional safety engineers who plan, develop, and evaluate the Department's accident prevention needs and advise me on required actions. We have adopted a continuing program of safety requirements in vehicle maintenance. |