Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ AMA wants CPSC Commissioner out ~ Statler denies ~ misconduct By Paul Ca rruthers WASH INGTON D.C ., OCT. 3 Appearing at the Second-Annual National Motorcycle Retailers Association (N MR A) State Leaders Conference, Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Stuart M. " Ba n 'em " Statler claimed his a p. proach to ATV safe ty was fair and reasonable, denied he called for a ban a nd recall of ATVs, 24 a nd sai d th a t h e a nd h is wife h ad been m isrepresented by Cycle News a nd A TV News. Statler 's a p peara nce was h is most su bd ued to dat e a nd stood in sha rp co ntras t to h is usu al fire-andbri mstone , en d -of-t he -wo rl d approach to ATV safety in fro nt of the genera l media. Wh ile Stat ler 's new po li tica l a p proach to the matter kep t most of the deal er representa tives off hi s back , AMA President Ed Yo u ngblood spoke up and let it be known th e AMA's posit ion on the su bject; Youngblood politely as ked Statler to seriously consider suggestions from Congressman Larry Cra ig , an d to resign from his position as Comm issio ner. After Stat ler put fort h his best prep pi e-in-a-cowboy-bar im it a tio n and toned down h is views o f th e ATV situation to go along wit h the ga thering before h im , You ngblood let his thoughts be known . " I j us t wanted to say that I'm as to u nded to h ea r yo u say in th is room tha t you h ave not reached a ny bo ttom line decision o n th e sa fety o f th e veh icle or a ny bottom line determ ina tion," Youngbl ood said . " Because I wa nt to ass u re yo u tha t th a t is n ot the im p ressio n th at yo u h ave left o n th e publ ic. Also I think you ca nn ot ge t o ff so easi ly by say ing th at tha t's a false im pression th at has been genera ted by Cycle News. I don't thi nk Cycle News, or a nyone else in th e press, had a ny ro le in yo ur ea rly press activi ties and yo ur in vo lvem ent on (ABC-T V's) 20/ 20. " I wa nt to tell you toda y what I and m y government rela tions sta ff believes about your activities. I don ' t want to reduce th is to a yes you d id , or no you didn't, th a t's no t my in tention. If yo u think I'm totally wrong a nd I' m worki ng with m isin forma tion, then I thi nk yo u must give so me very serious thought to yo ur public reception in th is ma tte r and th e image you've esta blish ed. We beli eve you are la rgely a lo ne a m ong yo ur co mmi ssioners in having preconceived prej ud ice to wa rds AT Vs. We bel ieve yo u've been selecti ve in use o f information a n d have in fact stimulat ed a collection o f biased information to support that prejudice. We think yo u have in fact sti m u lated a sensa tiona list media rea ction a nd we beli eve you have abused yo ur position as co mmi ssion er and deliberately promot ed the im p ression that your views ar e th a t of a go vern me nt a genc y. And we bel ieve th is proce ss has resulted in a was te of public funds and in fact impeded th e activities of that agen cy. " I su p pose that if I'm totall y off base in making those sta tements th en La rry Crai g and I will be in eq ua lly bad co m pa ny . Let me tell you very honestl y, th e problem I have. If I belie ved that we were going to pro- ceed on li ke th is to the end, then perh a ps I wo u ldn ' t be making th ese co m ments. But I hon est ly don' t bel ieve tha t if th e opportun it y didn ' t arise yo u wou ldn 't wa lk out o f here and p articipat e in a media event on the steps of th is h o tel th at wo ul d resul t in a completely different tone and a co m p letely di fferent mes sage tha n yo u've give n t his group today. I th in k it is a ver y serious problem a nd with no personal malice towards yo u, I th in k you sho u ld co nside r the best way to ge t th is thi ng back on track , th e best way to get the in d ustry a nd the agency working together is for you to give very serious thought to Co ngressman Cra ig 's su ggestion ." Sta tler responded with, " I ha ve written to Congressma n Craig and th e copy o f m y correspondence is p ubl ic. I thi nk h e m ade inaccurate sta teme nts with much o f it apparen tly coming o u t o f the p ress co verage tha t h e cho se to rea d a n d o the r stateme nts he chose to ignore. I would a sk that , in ta ki ng to the grou p th a t I' ve o n ly hea rd reason a ble responses from today, a nd as rea so nabl e m en I ask that yo u j udge me [rom what you hear from me and n ot fro m whai yo u rea d a bo ut me in o ne or o ther pu bl ica tio ns, " I feel th at th ere is a p roblem here a nd it doesn 't h elp th e problem to be name ca ll ing, to be a voidi ng th e probl em getting into a rg umen ts. I think th e effort is on track with th e SVIA and I'm h oping we ca n ge t th e deal ers o n track by so me kind of co ncerted ac tions on their p arts, sayi ng th at th ey're co ncerned. Put pressure o n th e industry, on the ma n ufacturers to devote th e time to colla te th e resources, to do it jo intly if necessa ry. If th ere is a means [or co m in g up wit h a sa fer vehicle, to do it beca use the co nseq ue nces of not ac ting are jus t much too severe . If from the sta teme nts yo u feel I've made, yo u thi nk I' ve prejudged th e ma tter , let' s see wh a t th ose sta tem ents a re. If yo u in this room today feel I' ve prejudged, a nd I sens ed th a t from the man from So uth Caroli na, the n you go away with tha t, well th at's o kay with me. At least yo u h eard fro m me d irectl y a nd wh at I' ve said today is no different from what I' ve sai d at any o th er time. " In terms of the 20/ 20 show, I don 't reme m ber m y exact quote but I'm sure it was o n th e order of something I've sa id ea rlie r toda y. As a co m missio ne r of th e Consumer Product Sa fety Commission, I've not seen such a dramatic surge in inj uries in terms of seriousness of inju ry and frequency in terms of a ny product that has ever co n fro nted me as a commissioner in six yea rs. I did say that, tha t is true. That wa s a lso stated by one of our ep ide m io log ists, who was th e chief person dealing in th is area since th e agency 's in ception in 1973. That's a fact a nd I can' t cha n ge that. That is what I rem ember telling 20/20 and I told yo u that today. Tha t' s a pretty serious sta teme nt; we've dealt with a n umber o f p ro ducts and quite a num ber of serious problems. I thin k we 've served the American p ublic well in dealing wi th th ose problems - th is is a problem that we're now co n fro nt in g a nd it is a big problem. I' ve tried to keep a n open mind as much as possible a nd to rece ive all the testimony , to work with all parties who show any interest in working on the p roblem. " H ave yo u considered the possibility th at yo u ' re wrong, that you overreact ed, that it's not neccessari ly what yo u see it is? Ha ve you co ns ide red th at as a possibility?" asked Bo b Combs from the Ca lifo rnia Motorcycle Deal er 's Associa tion. " Yeah," Statler replied. " First o f all I'm n ot altogther unfamiliar wi th your a rg u me nt. I ge t th at a ll the ti me from mv mothe r-i n -la w. Sh e ta kes the sta nd that basically we do n' t need a Consumer Produc t Sa fety Co m missio n . Interesti n gl y, people wh o have th at at titude , th e first time th at so methi ng happens in th e co ntext of a ch ild ren's crib or ch ildren's toy, th ey wonder 'w hy did the govern me nt ever a llow th at o n th e market , anyway,' I' m n ot trying to co n vince yo u o f the n eed or lack o f need o f thi s agency; Co ngress has deter mined th e need. I'm persona lly a risk-ta ki ng individua l, I moun tain cl im b a nd do things my wife a nd I very much enjoy. Whe n I took th e SVIA co u rse, su re, I had fu n o n th e veh icle, it wa s fun . I wo u ld like to so me day, wh en I' m convinced th at th ere is a safe r ATV out th ere, perhaps to ha ve o ne . We ha ve an id eal locatio n for it a nd now we have a dirt bike, but probabl y in a uti li ty sense th e ATV would make much m ore sense. Wo u ld I buy one righ t n ow knowing every th in g I know? No . Yes, it's fun , bu t th at notion of fu n ha s to be co nsi dered in th e co ntext o f wh eth er the ri sk is more than wha t I want to ta ke in ri di ng a vehicl e of tha t sort. From a pe rso na l sta nd p o int that's not wh at I want to undertake a t this point. "The no tion th a t I want to ban this veh icle is absurd . Tha t's not m y philosophy. I'm not a co nserva tive, I'm not a liberal, I guess I'm in th e middl e o f th e road, but th e not ion o f banning so methi ng entirely doesn 't fit with me," When th e question wa s posed to Statler as to why h e indicat ed a ban and recall to th e ATVs before th e inves tigation had beg u n, Statler, once agai n, denied h is publ ish ed rem ark s. " I ha ve n ot, a nd I want to m ak e th is clea r, I have never sai d th at th e p roduct shou ld be banned ." Statler said . " No t withsta nding th e a ppellation th at h as been gi ven m e, " Ban 'em ", I defy m y friends from Cycle News an d A TV News wh o so u gh t to m ak e th is a ma jor issu e or m y friend in Congress, Larry Craig , whoattribut ed th a t position to me. I defy th em to find that in a n ything I ha ve ever said . " I h ave said th a t if I were a man ufacturer of th ese vehi cles , in view of every th in g I know, in terms of inj ury a nd death figu res, in view o f as a law yer wh at I know, in terms of the potential of product liability, I would make every effort to co nd uct the resea rch and development to come up with th e safest possible vehicle and try and ,get back those that are a lrea d y on the market that don't inco rpora te those kinds of safety advancements," For the record, Statler has in fact, in sta teme n ts that only have one reasonable interpretation, repea tedly ca lle d for a ban and recall of ATVs, despite denying this a t th e NMRA meeting. In a March 7 letter, to state co ns u mer protection agencies, Statler wrote that CPSC " O p tions range , . .to halting fu ture th ree-wheeled ATV product ion; to possibly recal lin g all such veh icles previously sold." In a CPSC h ea rin g in Wash in gton o n April 3, Statler sai d " As o ne Commission er , I a m so distressed by the d imens ions of th is emerg ing risk based on w hat we already know , tha t I believe serious co nsideration needs to be given in th e m onths a head to the advisability of seeki ng a h al t in future three-wheeled ATV production a nd possib ly reca lli ng all suc h vehicles previously so ld," Statler also appea red on the ABC television broadcast of th e 20/2 0 show on Ap ril 25, a nd was shown on camera saying, "T he rea l q uestion is wh y do n't these ma nufacturers, basi ca lly four fore ig n manu fact u rers, recogn ize the serious ness o f th is problem and cease product ion im media tely, a nd possibly recall everyone o f those 1.8 mill ion th at are ou t on the m arket " On Ma y 21; in a co n versa tion with Cycle News a n d A TV Ne ws Editor J ohn Ul rich in Wash in gton, Statler den ied ca ll ing for a ban a nd recall. " I nev er said th a t," Statler sa id. "I h aven 't said we shou ld reca ll and ban ATVs," Statler wen t o n to tell Ulrich that h e felt m anufacturers of ATVs sho uld immediat el y cease production o f ATVs a nd reca ll th ose al rea dy in th e hands o f co ns u mers, a nd refund full value to people wh o have purchased th em , Alt hough he co ntin ues to den y_his sta teme nts of publ ic record, Statler didn't back off o n hi s bel ief th at th e ATV is inherently dangerous. He did , however, cha nge hi s tune slig h tly w he n di scus sing th e matter with the deal er represen ta tives. " ATVs are inherentl y da n gerous ," Statler sai d . " Yes, I h ave sa id that. So a re d irt bikes and so ar e motorcycles a n d so a re a u to mobiles a nd so are ch ai nsaws and so are circu lar saws. They are all inh erently dangerous a rid so 's a knife, but th at is not a rea son for regu la tin g it, because by its very n ature it ca n ca use injury and death , a nd th at 's what inherently dangerous means. The issue before us a n d before th e co u rt, ultimately, is are they unreasonabl y dangerous? And it co u ld well be th e presence or th e a bsence of a sus pension will be one of th e factors that we will consider or a co u rt will cons ide r, wh eth er th at gulf • between inherently dangerous and unreasonabl y dangerous has been bridged." Statler a lso co m p lai ned about a " Sm itt y" ca rtoon in Cycle News and ATV N ews, say ing th at th e cartoon u pset hi s wife. " My wife as ked me to ex press h er indignation to a t least o ne of th e publications th at I heard was represented h ere, Cycle N ews. Sh e didn ' t m ind a ny kind of m isrepresentation to m y position, but when I was caricatu red in the Smitty colu mn wearing polka -dot shorts, she felt so mew hat em barrassed. But what reall y go t her juices roil in g was when she wa s ca rica tu red as a stick -figured hag needling m e in the morning as to what I should be wearing." •

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