Month: October 2014

Defective Airbags and Defective Recalls Continue to Endanger All American


Defective Airbags and Defective Recalls Continue to Endanger All American

October, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Excellent reporting by CBS found:

“More than 11 million cars have been ordered back because of the potentially deadly airbag malfunction. Safety advocates, and those who’ve been affected, say the number should be far higher.

Clarence Ditlow leads the Center for Auto Safety.

“This is one of the deadliest defects that we have ever seen,” says Ditlow. “Yet 10 years later we are just beginning to get to the bottom of it.”

Documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, show Honda, the biggest buyer of Takata airbags, first learned about an exploding airbag in 2004. They recalled about 4,000 cars in 2008. The recalls have now reached 11 million vehicles.

Nine car makers are currently included, but the recalls are mostly regional, covering up to nine states and two U.S. territories.

That’s because Takata believes the explosions are more likely to happen in humid climates, when moisture gets into the system.

“How in the world can you approve a geographic recall that doesn’t include the two states where people have been killed?” says Ditlow”

Lou

 

Your Safety and The End of Daylight Savings Time in the U.S.


Your Safety and The End of Daylight Savings Time in the U.S.

October, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Let There Be Light and Safety

It is that time of year when days are shorter and visibility becomes more important for your safety.  Sunday Nov. 2nd is the end of Daylight Savings Time in the U.S.

For pedestrians and cyclists it is a safe idea and good practice to wear light reflective materials.   Years ago the Federal Highway Administration published a poster for the public with the statistic that 60% of pedestrian fatalities occur between the hours of 6:00pm and 6:00am.  The “Be Safe, Be Bright” poster shows distances at which pedestrians can be seen wearing clothing of different colors – and retro reflective materials.

Check it out at https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/besafe.php

Car Color: Let There Be Light – White, and Safety

For years at NHTSA I tried to get a statistical analysis on the fatality risk of vehicles by color: White vs. other colors.  There were always excuses why it should not be done.  Only after I retired did I see some Researchers in Australia were independent enough to do such a study.  They found White to be statistically about 10% safer.  See it attached and at http://www.monash.edu.au/miri/research/reports/muarc263.pdf

The fact is this is one of the cheapest ways for a consumer to get a 10% increase in safety.   I have often wondered why this has been kept from the public by NHTSA and others.  The public should too. 

Vehicle paint colors can be made iridescent too to be more visible at night.  In fact, the 1973 airbag  vehicles made for the government by GM were painted in iridescent green.  Auto safety expert Byron Bloch sent me the following note and attached picture:

“Attached are two of my photos showing the 1973 Airbag Chevy Impala that I own, alongside the NHTSA “safercar.gov” rendition showing how they modified their 1973 Airbag Chevy.    These two historic cars were displayed at the official NHTSA Exhibit at the 2011 ESV Conference at National Harbor in Washington, D.C.    My car is in the historic GM iridescent green-gold of their original mass-production fleet of 1,000 identical cars, and to my knowledge is the last remaining example. 
Please also refer to  www.vimeo.com/1553230  for further information about this 1973 Airbag Chevy and GM’s early-1970’s development program of their ACRS – Air Cushion Restraint System.”

Note the NHTSA “Safer Car” picture.  It shows how NHTSA painted over the original iridescent green GM paint.  The public should wonder why NHTSA made the color and other changes to the original vehicle rather than preserving it as a historical example of safety vehicles from 40 years ago.

Lou

 

Bad Guardrails and Good Governance


Bad Guardrails and Good Governance

October, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The NY Times has identified and mapped the 13 States that have banned dangerous guardrails.  Current status: 9 Blue States: MA, CT, NH, OR, CO, NV, VA, VT, HI

4 Red States: AZ, MO, LA, MS
Then consider the 37 States that have not yet banned bad guardrails.  Shouldn’t the American people know about this before election day?  It is a matter of life or death importance. Readers and media can use our Crash Death Mapping Tools to determine crash deaths since 2002 by year, State, and Congressional District athttps://www.careforcrashvictims.com/CrashDeathMappingTools.php
And, what about governance by the DOT Federal Highway Administration?  The Obama Administration should not only review NHTSA but also FHWA for its failures to protect Americans.
We can, and must, do better protecting Americans from crash deaths and serious injuries.

Lou

 

Update: NHTSA Safety Culture Under Review by Obama Administration


Update: NHTSA Safety Culture Under Review by Obama Administration

October, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Finally!  After 6 years in Office, the Obama Administration will conduct a review of NHTSA.  This is after nearly 200,000 crash deaths, about 800,000 serious crash injuries, and $5 Trillion in losses in the U.S.A. under the Obama Administration.   For data sources see http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812013.pdf  and http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812055.pdf

Note: This was announced by a unnamed official, not President Obama.

“Concerned about safety lapses by the country’s top auto regulator, the Obama administration is undertaking a comprehensive review of the agency to determine if “we have the dial set correctly” on safety, a senior administration official with knowledge of the review said on Friday.”http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/25/business/white-house-will-review-auto-safety-regulator.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw%2C{%221%22%3A%22RI%3A9%22}
Having worked to improve auto safety since 1978 at NHTSA, IIHS, and publishing at Care for Crash Victims since 2007 that “the dial has been set” incorrectly, this is finally hopeful news. 

But it remains to be seen whether or not we now get the hope and change we were promised and voted for in 2008 and 2012? Lou

 


Class Action Suit Against GM

October, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Another good article from the NY Times covering the GM saga. “Lawyers in sweeping class-action litigation against General Motors have significantly broadened their case against the embattled automaker, claiming that the company disregarded and concealed safety issues far beyond the defective ignition switch that is now linked to 27 deaths.”

Seehttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/16/business/class-action-case-accuses-gm-of-neglect-beyond-ignition-switch.html?hpw&rref=automobiles&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpHedThumbWell&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well

Notes to NY Times:  Why not add a Comment section?  And help readers by giving them a link to the Master Complaint.

 

BMW to Offer Automatic Crash Notification + Urgency Algorithm


BMW to Offer Automatic Crash Notification + Urgency Algorithm

October, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

BMW announces at the Paris Auto Show a potentially life saving system that was developed by NHTSA in prototype form in 1997.  Landmark papers on URGENCY Algorithm work that I had a role in are available at:  https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/urgency.php“BMW Assist eCall and TeleService. The new BMW X6 is equipped with the BMW Assist eCall system and TeleService including a 10 year subscription. The system relays important information to the BMW Call Center in the event of a crash, such as vehicle position (accurate to within feet), chassis number, vehicle model, vehicle color and data from the onboard sensors. The system also detects how many people are travelling in the vehicle, which airbags were activated and the intensity of the impact. Thanks to the company’s ground-breaking Urgency Algorithm, the system also uses data from the vehicle’s crash sensors to assess and transmit the likelihood of severe injury. This makes it easier to supply first responders with critical information in a timely fashion.” See http://www.autoblog.com/2014/10/02/2015-bmw-x6-keeps-it-weird/

The American people deserved to have this safety technology protecting them more than a decade ago.  Political influence led by GM has prevented NHTSA from setting standards for the use of this safety technology for more than a decade.  This technology has the potential of improving emergency medical care and saving perhaps 20 percent of the seriously injured crash victims from death and disability.  
But the control of the regulatory process by GM and other auto companies prevented Americans from having such protection here in the U.S.A.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/CFCV-MonthlyReport-March2014.pdf
Countless lives have been lost and diminished by this political influence and control over government programs – which continues to this day over NHTSA and CDC.
Lou

 

Senator Blumenthal on NHTSA


Senator Blumenthal on NHTSA

October, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Politico reports that former 5 term Connecticut Attorney General, now Senator Blumenthal sees NHTSA as follows:

“It really is a prisoner of a culture of capture … too close to the industry,” the Connecticut Democrat said of NHTSA. “The car companies have a responsibility here to support a national recall” as well as backing an overhaul of NHTSA.

“NHTSA ought to be all over this industry,” the senator said, noting that it’s potentially too small, but the culture also needs to change.

ABC News reported Saturday the Department of Transportation will conduct a review of NHTSA.

“If the public were aware of the lawsuits that were brought, if they were settled in open view … there would be much quicker, more vigorous action,” Blumenthal said.”

See http://www.politico.com/blogs/politico-live/2014/10/richard-blumenthal-change-government-auto-relationship-197646.html

I have been reluctantly coming to the same sad conclusion for years now.  NHTSA is no longer the regulatory agency I worked at to advance safety beginning in 1978 and retiring from in January 2007. Lou