SEAT BELT RECALL MAY BE SMALLER THAN EXPECTED

What could have been the largest automobile recall in history may now end up being quite a bit smaller. Federal safety regulators were expected to announce tomorrow that over 8 million vehicles with seat belts that might unlatch in crashes would be recalled. However,TIME Detroit bureau chief Bill McWhirternow says the 11 automakers involved have narrowed defective belts to one shipment of 300,000 to 500,000 belts from the Japanese manufacturer Takata. Although there has been a relatively small number of complaints about the belts, McWhirter says the recall is an indicator of a new attitude by automakers. "The industry is coming to believe recalls are not always bad but can sometimes be good business. They've come to regard this as a tune-up, rather than a public admission that your car's a lemon, especially if, as in this case, the recalls aren't associated with some sort of gruesome accident."