ANN ARBOR, Mich. Affinia Group Inc. announced that it has filed a petition requesting the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to begin rulemaking toward adoption of a first-ever Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard for brake rotors.
In November, Affinia settled the false advertising lawsuits it filed against Dura International and CRW Inc. The parties agreed to resolve their differences by entering into mutual consent judgments which prevent them from advertising that their rotors meet or exceed original equipment performance standards unless they possess scientifically reliable and objectively verifiable engineering tests. As a result of the settlement, Dura is no longer a target of Affinia’s lightweight rotor campaign.
The petition for a Safety Standard is the latest step in Affinia’s ongoing Public Awareness Campaign to bring to light important safety issues affecting aftermarket auto parts and to push for effective action where necessary. The new Safety Standard that Affinia seeks from NHTSA would require all rotors sold in the United States to meet minimum performance standards for structural strength and crack-resistance under rigorous laboratory testing. No such mandatory standard exists in the U.S. today, although rotors are a critical component of a vehicle’s most important safety feature, its brake system.