June 2015 - Page 3 of 5 - Care For Crash Victims

Honda Deeply Regrets

June, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The NY Times reports:

“Honda Motor on Friday confirmed that a rupturing airbag inflater fatally wounded the driver of a 2005 Civic in a crash in April. Counting this, at least seven deaths have been linked to defective airbags made by the Japanese supplier Takata.

Kylan Langlinais, 22, died in a hospital four days after the Civic she was driving crashed into a utility pole in Lafayette, La., according to a lawsuit filed this week by her family. The airbag exploded and sent metal fragments into Ms. Langlinais’s car, severing an artery in her neck, the lawsuit said.

The vehicle was included in what Honda called a “safety improvement campaign” announced in June 2014, but no notice was sent to the car’s owner at the time, the automaker said. Ms. Langlinais acquired the vehicle in October 2014.

Honda finally sent a safety notice for the car on April 2, three days before Ms. Langlinais’s crash.

Continue reading the main story

Related Coverage

Lawmakers Press Takata on Propellant in Airbags JUNE 2, 2015 Takata’s Airbag Recall a Result of Converging Forces MAY 20, 2015 Takata Expects Return to Profit Despite Facing Airbag LawsuitsMAY 8, 2015

“Honda deeply regrets that mailed notification appears to have not reached Ms. Langlinais prior to her crash,” Chris Martin, a spokesman for the automaker, said in a statement.

Mr. Martin said the scale of the recalls and a lack of replacement parts prompted the automaker to prioritize servicing vehicles registered in “humid” regions like Florida, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, considered by Takata and federal regulators to be at highest risk of an inflater rupture.

Honda mailed out the first notifications to drivers in those areas in September. Notices to other regions, including Louisiana, were not immediately mailed out.” See

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/business/honda-links-a-rupturing-takata-airbag-to-a-7th-death.html?_r=0

IIHS Video on Child Safety

June, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members: Please see this excellent video by IIHS.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqSdwj9PMYk&feature=em-uploademail

Lou

Guardrail Judgement & Criminal Investigation

June, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

“The Justice Department and the Transportation Department inspector general’s office have begun a joint criminal investigation into Trinity and its dealings with the Federal Highway Administration, according to people with knowledge of the case.

“The fact that a federal criminal investigation is pending is hardly surprising given the strength of the evidence we presented at trial,” said Nicholas Gravante of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, a lawyer representing Mr. Harman. “The evidence of fraud in this case could not have been more compelling.” See

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/10/business/663-million-in-penalties-for-maker-of-guardrail.html?_r=0

Chrysler Jeep Recall – FCA Delivers Information to NHTSA

June, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

See latest report and the video by CBS News:

“The release of information comes ahead of a July 2nd public hearing, also demanded by NHTSA, during which federal safety regulators, representatives of the automaker and members of the public will be allowed to testify about FCA’s performance in each of the recalls — a performance that has already drawn less than stellar reviews.

NHTSA has complained that FCA’s recall completion rates have been too low, in one case only 4 percent of recalled vehicles had been repaired after the recall had been in effect for nearly two years. Fiat Chrysler even admitted in a letter to its dealerships that certain recall completion rates had not met expectations.

“It is not enough to identify defects,” said NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind. “Manufacturers have to fix them.”

His agency has expressed substantial concerns about the “significant safety hazards posed to consumers” in connection with Fiat Chrysler’s execution of its recalls. Automobile safety advocates go even further.

“People are dying and Chrysler is stalling,” said Clarence Ditlow, Executive Director of the Center for Auto Safety….”

“NHTSA should impose the maximum possible civil fine under the law,” said Ditlow. “The Justice Department should prosecute Chrysler and its responsible executives for criminal homicide for any deaths due to the delay in carrying out this recall.”

Before the Jeep recalls were issued, government figures put the death toll from fires in rear impact collisions at more than 50 people. The family of one victim, 4-year-old Remington Walden, sued Chrysler. In April, a Georgia jury ruled against the car company, awarding Walden’s family $150 million. Shortly thereafter, Chrysler filed a motion appealing the verdict. The automaker maintains that the vehicles are not defective and that they met all safety standards in place when they were produced.

Walden family attorney, Jim Butler, disagrees. He alleges Chrysler knew for years there was a problem with the rear fuel tanks on older model Jeeps. He says the company also knew trailer-hitches, the fix covered under the recall, wouldn’t protect the gas tanks.

“The real issue is not FCA’s dawdling on making the so-called ‘repair’; the real issue is the proposed ‘repair’ is a total fraud,” Butler said pointing, as proof, to a deposition from one of Chrysler’s own engineers saying a trailer-hitch would not protect the gas tank on the affected Jeep models.” Seehttp://www.cbsnews.com/news/fiat-chrysler-answers-criticism-surrounding-handling-of-recalls/

Lou

How Many More Will Die Before Election Day 2016? Who will ask the candidates?

June, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

As of July 1, 2015 there were 496 days left until Election Day 2016.

At the 2014 NHTSA counted rate of 90 people dying of crash injuries per day, America is on track to suffer nearly 45,000 more crash deaths during this election season. And about 1,000 will be children under the age of 15. See http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812160.pdf In reality the number will be closer to 50,000 more American crash deaths. That is close to the number of American deaths in the Viet Nam War. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_casualties_of_war

Remember that NHTSA systematically under-counts crash deaths by about 10 per day. See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-officerdies.php

Estimating the number of Americans that will suffer serious crash injuries before Election Day 2016 to be close to 200,000 Americans, we find that number exceeds the number wounded in the Viet Nam War.

Now how many editors, reporters, and moderators will ask the Presidential candidates their goals and plans to end this toll of crash deaths and injuries in America?

Lou

Changes at DOT & NHTSA

June, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The NY Times reports:

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx acknowledged on Friday that there were “deficits” in the investigative process at the safety agency and “room for self-improvement” in how the government regulates the safety of autos.

“We have taken a set of actions that will aid in improving the effectiveness of N.H.T.S.A.,” Mr. Foxx said in a conference call with reporters.

The admissions drew sharp responses from members of Congress who have been critical of the government’s inability for years to recognize that defective ignition switches in G.M. cars could suddenly cut engine power and disable airbags, putting occupants at risk of death or serious injury.

“There needs to be a complete overhaul of this failing agency,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut. “The results of this report are long overdue.”….

“The agency will also adopt a “risk control” program that better aligns various departments and encourages more sharing of safety information.

It also proposed a formal process to reach out to lawyers who represent accident victims, partly to make government investigators aware of secret settlements between automakers and litigants on safety issues….

“One safety advocate argued that the changes made by safety agency did not go far enough, and urged the agency to open up investigative reports to the public.

“It still soft-pedals why they have gone from one defect crisis to another,” said Sean E. Kane of the consulting firm Safety Research and Strategies. “What is missing is any mention of the importance of transparency.”

Friday’s reports do not conclude scrutiny of the agency’s handling of the defect, however. The Transportation Department inspector general has been conducting its own examination and results are expected later this month.

For one family tragically affected by the G.M. defect, the reports did bring some sense of closure.

“From Day 1 I said, isn’t N.H.T.S.A. just as guilty as General Motors is?” said Ken Rimer, stepfather of Natasha Weigel, who died in the Wisconsin crash highlighted in the reports. “It’s terrific they are finally owning up to their mistakes.” See http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/06/business/nhtsa-admits-missing-clues-to-gm-ignition-defects.html?mabReward=CTM&moduleDetail=recommendations-2&action=click&contentCollection=Sports&region=Footer&module=WhatsNext&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&configSection=article&isLoggedIn=false&src=recg&pgtype=article

Consumer Affairs reports:

“The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today released two reports outlining their,plans for tougher oversight and identifying shortcomings in its own efforts.

But nothing drew more gasps than the revelation that DOT and NHTSA would be consulting with personal injury lawyers, who often find and document safety hazards long before they come to NHTSA’s attention.

In fact, lawyers who specialize in auto accidents and product liability already have their own informal but highly sophisticated,networks that share data the attorneys collect as they build evidence against automakers. In many cases, records are sealed after a trial ends in an out-of-court settlement, especially those involving huge damage awards arising from injuries caused by safety defects, so the information is never made public….

“On Capitol Hill, Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said the NHTSA must resolve to prevent future tragedies like the GM ignition switch debacle.

“We are pleased that NHTSA has acknowledged neglecting critical information that should have moved it to take action much earlier on faulty GM ignition switches that were killing drivers and passengers for years. Unfortunately, for more than a decade, NHTSA failed to address the information and evidence it had in its own database linking defective ignition switch to fatal accidents,” the senators said in a joint statement.

“It is incumbent upon Administrator Rosekind to put in place permanent measures necessary to prevent another tragedy like this from ever happening again. Those measures must include a requirement that the types of secret documents that NHTSA had access to are made public, and the enactment of our legislation that requires more information to be reported to NHTSA’s Early Warning Reporting database when auto manufacturers first become aware of incidents involving fatalities.”

The two have introduced legislation that they say would ensure more transparency and earlier reporting of safety issues to prevent auto injuries and fatalities.

The legislation, the Early Warning Reporting System Improvement Act, would require NHTSA make the information it receives from auto manufacturers publicly available in a searchable, user-friendly format so that consumers and independent safety experts can evaluate potential safety defects themselves.”

See

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/feds-vow-tougher-scrutiny-of-automakers-safety-efforts-may-collaborate-with-personal-injury-lawyers-060515.html

NHTSA Release and Documents are attached

and at

http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/nhtsa-forming-new-safety-teams

Lou

Clarence Ditlow Statement and Documents on DOT OIG Audit of NHTSA Safety Defects Program

June, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Clarence Ditlow, based on decades of safety research and advocacy, notes 3 NHTSA problems identified in OIG Report:

* Lack of resources

* Lack of Transparency and Accountability

* Lack of NHTSA Will“Statement on DOT Inspector General Report on NHTSA’s Efforts to Identify & Investigate Vehicle Safety Concerns The Inspector General’s stinging report on NHTSA’s Defect Investigation process reveals three fundamental flaws: lack of resources, lack of transparency and accountability, and lack of will to take on major defects.

Lack of resources appears in all too many areas: having just one person to initially screen all the complaints, a few seconds for each, amounts to nothing more than sorting the mail. Not having funds for software that can read manufacturer EWR reports means defect data go unread. Investigators must have training and training costs money the agency doesn’t have. Although not pointed out by the IG, NHTSA doesn’t even have its own research facility like other agencies; instead it must rent space from Honda.
Lack of transparency and accountability means no one knows why investigations aren’t opened and no one is held accountable for not opening an investigation. People die due to unopened investigations. NHTSA must be transparent and accountable both externally and internally. Staff have to know when and why an investigation is opened or not. The public can provide an important check and balance on agency action and inaction.
Lack of will to take on major defects means NHTSA doesn’t get the hard job done. Instead the agency concentrates on small, inadequate investigations like the Equipment Query into Webasto sunroofs that generated over a hundred recalls by small shops over a defect with no known deaths or serious injuries. Lack of will means settling for inadequate Service Campaigns or geographic recalls instead of needed national Safety Recalls when a manufacturer balks at doing anything more.

NHTSA must be given adequate resources but it has to become a forceful regulator that is transparent and accountable to the public. All the people who have died from safety defects in the past and all the people who can be saved from safety defects in the future deserve nothing less than an agency that is willing and able to take on any defect.”

See documents at

http://www.autosafety.org/statement-cas-executive-director-clarence-ditlow-dot-inspector-general-nhtsa-audit-report

Lou