Consumers Union calls for tougher car safety

February 23, 2010 Recent Toyota recalls involving sudden, unintended acceleration have focused national attention on safety problems that are infrequent, but potentially fatal. Consumers Union, the group which publishes Consumer Reports, is pushing for quicker identification of widespread technical glitches.

"Car problems reported to dealers, automakers, and government agencies every day create a level of 'noise' that can make it difficult to identify real trends and rare problems," a release from the group said Tuesdya.

Consumers Union says many complaints are about isolated incidents due to driver error, vehicle abuse, lack of maintenance or variability on the assembly line. The group says th National Highway Transportation Safety Administration receives more than 30,000 complaints a year; and only about 2,000 in the last decade were related to acceleration issues with Toyota models.

Consumers Union made several recommendations for strengthening the governement's safety net in catching systemic car issues.

Improve public access to safety information

Mandate specific safety changes in new cars

Remove NHTSA's cap on civil penalties

Give NHTSA more resources

Make more safety features standard

Share more safety-related information

Consumers Union also has suggestions for consumers:

Share your information about safety issues

Act on recall information

Consumers Unions says it will expand information on www.ConsumerReports.org. Visit their Web site for more tips on what steps can be taken.