NHTSA Feels The Heat

The Firestone fiasco has exposed major weaknesses in the government watchdog agency in charge of safety on America's highways.

Members of Congress accused the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of being asleep at the wheel, but critics say it was Congress that put it to sleep by cutting funding.

And as the blame game continued Thursday, CBS News Correspondent Bob Orr took a look at how NHTSA has evolved over the years.

When Firestone struggled through an earlier recall in 1978, NHTSA was at the height of its power. It drafted tough new tire regulations.

But, the rules were never enacted. Ronald Reagan swept to power, promising to help struggling U.S. auto companies by reducing regulations. NHTSA's budget was slashed and now, two decades later, the regulator is left with little real power and few resources.

Since 1980, NHTSA's staff has been cut by 30 percent and its budget by even more—36 percent. At the same time the number of cars in America has jumped 38 percent.

"We had a lot of problems with trying to keep the agency afloat the last six years," says Ricardo Martinez, former NHTSA administrator.

Martinez, who headed NHTSA until last October, says the agency is underfunded and overwhelmed. Yet the Republican Congress, he says, often sides with big business until there's a problem like the current Firestone flap.

"It is interesting to see that some of the same people in Congress who really thought NHTSA was too hard on the car companies are now complaining that NHTSA is asleep at the wheel," Martinez said.

But Louisiana Rep. Billy Tauzin, who chaired Wednesday's hearing on the Firestone recall, says NHTSA has dropped the ball.

"They're trying to find a scapegoat, just like everybody else in this case, they're trying to blame Reagan. It's like the dog ate my homework excuse. It just doesn't fly," says Tauzin.

Yet NHTSA insists it is doing more with less. Investigations have more than doubled since 1980. But, the agency rarely orders major recalls, relying instead on companies to take voluntary actions.

"The car companies view NHTSA as an annoyance and as something they have to put up with rather than something they need to be concerned about or fear," says Ralph Hoar, an auto safety consultant.

And the car companies are spending millions lobbying Congress to keep it that way. One former NHTSA investigator says the agency just doesn't have the muscle needed to police auto safety. And until that changes, the industry, and not regulators, will call most of the shots.