ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996 TAG: 9602230071
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chrysler Corp. will contest a finding by government regulators that its rear seat belts in 1995 Chrysler Cirrus and Dodge Stratus models failed anchor strength tests, industry sources said late Thursday.
At a government hearing today, Chrysler attorney Lew Goldfarb is expected to present the automaker's argument that the test of seat belt anchor strength by the government's highway safety agency was flawed, said the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Almost all vehicle safety recalls are done voluntarily by an auto company, sometimes at the strong nudging of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Chrysler's decision sets up a rare confrontation between NHTSA and an auto company. If Chrysler balks at a voluntary recall to repair the anchors, the safety agency could order one. There are more than 91,000 of the vehicles on the road.
The next step for Chrysler would be to challenge the agency's decision in court, industry sources and other sources close to the proceedings said Thursday.
NHTSA has decided to argue a recall case in court only eight times in the agency's history. It has won all but one of them.
On Jan. 23, NHTSA issued what is technically called an ``initial decision of noncompliance'' regarding the seat belt anchors. The agency had issued such a finding only twice before in its history.
``It is a serious action by the agency, but it is also not the final word,'' Michael Brownlee, NHTSA's associate administrator for safety, said at the time.
Chrysler had told NHTSA it would not voluntarily recall the vehicles.
NHTSA found a defect in the vehicles' rear seat-belt anchoring system - a weld nut that pulled out of the floor of a 1995 Cirrus - during a routine test in July. The same system is used in the Stratus.
The government standard requires seat belts to sustain a 3,000-pound load for 10 seconds. NHTSA officials said the agency's test pulled on the belt at a distance of 5 inches from the seat back, which agency officials think represents how much belt a thin passenger might use.
Al Slechter, Chrysler's federal technical affairs director, said last month the company takes issue with the way NHTSA conducted the tests. ``NHTSA is unwilling to relent and so are we. We feel we are right,'' he said.
Government sources said Chrysler duplicated NHTSA's result in its own tests but argued the belt held when pulled at a distance of 3 inches from the seat back. Government officials maintain that distance doesn't conform with people's anatomy.
NHTSA said Cirrus and Stratus cars made after May 15, 1995, meet the safety standard, because Chrysler replaced the weld-nut assembly with a stronger design.
LENGTH: Medium: 59 linesby CNB