Safety secrecy

Automakers’ initial reports to U.S. regulators on vehicle safety risks can be kept secret from the public, a federal agency said.

The decision announced Friday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will take effect Nov. 19. It will allow the agency to withhold from the public information submitted by automakers on complaints, production totals, warranty claims and tire defect data.

The rule stems from a 2000 law requiring the safety administration to collect the so-called early-warning reports. Congress passed the law after deaths were linked to rollovers involving Ford Motor Co.’s Explorer vehicles equipped with tires made by Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.