NHTSA Airbag Recall Estimates Off by 36%
September, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:http://www.autonews.com/article/20150901/OEM11/150909984/u.s.-drops-estimates-for-vehicles-equipped-with-defective-takata
Month: September 2015
NHTSA’s New Deputy Administrator
NHTSA’s New Deputy Administrator
September, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Mr. Blair Anderson appears on the newest published NHTSA Org Chart attached.
His recent bio sketch at DOT describes his background as follows:
“Prior to joining the Department in April 2013, Mr. Anderson spent eight years as an advisor for Congressman John W. Olver, most recently staffing the Congressman in his positions as Chairman, then Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. Notable achievements during this time included providing $10.5 billion for the High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail grant program and the creation of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. Mr. Anderson also served as Congressman Olver’s Legislative Director from 2007-2009.
Mr. Anderson has a bachelor’s degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University.”
Lou
Neither Safety Nor Justice?
Neither Safety Nor Justice?
September, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
The NY Times reports:
“Federal prosecutors are poised to settle a criminal investigation into General Motors, according to people briefed on the matter, accusing the automaker of failing to disclose a safety defect tied to at least 124 deaths. The case, which the prosecutors plan to release on Thursday, would cap a wide-ranging investigation that tainted the automaker’s reputation for quality and safety and damaged its bottom line.
The case is not expected to include charges against individual G.M. executives, but it will impose a penalty of nearly $1 billion on G.M. and an admission of facts surrounding the wrongdoing, according to people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity. One of the people said the financial penalty would fall below the $1 billion mark, though not significantly so….
In recent months, some G.M. officials expected that the company would pay more than the $1.2 billion paid last year by Toyota for concealing unintended acceleration problems in its vehicles. The company also faced the possibility that it would have to plead guilty to a crime, but instead has agreed to sign a so-called deferred-prosecution agreement, the people said, a deal that effectively amounts to probation for corporations.
Notably, G.M. employees are also expected to avoid indictment, though the investigation is expected to continue, according to the people briefed on the matter. After more than a yearlong investigation, federal prosecutors in Manhattan and the Federal Bureau of Investigation struggled to pin criminal wrongdoing on any one G.M. employee, concluding instead that the problems stemmed from a collective failure at the automaker.
That outcome, a disappointment for some victims of the G.M. safety crisis, illustrates the limitations of new Justice Department rules that emphasize criminal charges against corporate employees. That initiative, announced last week in a memo to federal prosecutors across the country, represented a tacit acknowledgment of criticism that prosecutors have secured record fines from big banks and corporations, but few indictments of their employees….
Laura Christian, the birth mother of 16-year-old Amber Rose, who was killed in a July 2005 crash in Maryland, said she was shocked to hear that G.M. might pay less than Toyota paid to resolve its case.
“That’s giving G.M. and the other auto manufacturers permission to do it again,” Ms. Christian said. “And all of the people who were killed in these crashes, including my daughter, will have lost their lives in vain.”
The Justice Department should listen to crash victims. 124 deaths at $9.2 million each = $1.14 Billion. See DOT Policy Guidance on value of a life (copy attached).
Lou
Important Article by Ralph Nader “General Motors: Homicidal Fugitive From Justice”
Important Article by Ralph Nader “General Motors: Homicidal Fugitive From Justice”
September, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Ralph Nader has written an article of life or death importance for the “safety and happiness” of all Americans. Please read it and act to create a safer America.“Yes, it’s official. General Motors engaged in criminal wrongdoing for long knowing about the lethal defect in its ignition switch that took at least 174 lives and counting, plus serious injuries. At least 1.6 million GM cars – Chevrolet Cobalt and other models – hid this danger to trusting drivers, according to the Center for Auto Safety (http://www.autosafety.org/). Corporation executives who lie to or mislead the federal government violate Title 18 of the federal code, and risk criminal penalties.” See
https://nader.org/2015/09/18/general-motors-homicidal-fugitive-from-justice/
“Safety and Happiness” was written into our Declaration of Independence. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
Our future Safety and Happiness is clearly not secure. Americans must act now when we have neither safety nor justice.
Lou
Dangerous Guardrails Spur Investigation of Possible Federal Government Misconduct
Dangerous Guardrails Spur Investigation of Possible Federal Government Misconduct
September, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
The NY Times reports:
“The Federal Highway Administration said it would monitor the results of Virginia’s tests. The office of Virginia’s attorney general declined to comment beyond Mr. McGrath’s letter. Scrutiny of the guardrail manufacturer is continuing. The Justice Department, with the cooperation of the Transportation Department inspector general’s office, is conducting a criminal investigation into Trinity and its dealings with the Federal Highway Administration.
In June, a Texas judge handed down a $663 million judgment against Trinity, following a trial held in October last year in a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by Joshua Harman, a competitor who discovered in 2011 that Trinity had made a critical change to the dimensions of its ET-Plus guardrail in 2005, but failed to tell federal regulators as required by law….
Senator Richard Blumenthal, a persistent critic of Trinity and the highway agency’s handling of the testing, praised Virginia’s actions.
“I think this is a watershed moment,” Mr. Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said. “Clearly the states have concluded they cannot trust the Federal Highway Administration to get it right, and this signals to other states that they’ll have to fill in the gap themselves to determine if these guardrails are safe.”
GM’s Criminal Behavior Agreed To By U.S. Justice Department – Outrage Begins
GM’s Criminal Behavior Agreed To By U.S. Justice Department – Outrage Begins
September, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Victims’ Voices Being Raised
On Democracy Now! Laura Gipe Christian, founder of GM Recall Survivors, was interviewed by host Amy Goodman on the Agreement made by the Justice Department with GM. The interview began with:“Federal prosecutors have agreed to settle a criminal probe into General Motors for concealing an ignition switch defect linked to at least 124 deaths. Under the deal, General Motors agreed to pay $900 million as part of a deferred prosecution agreement, but no GM executives will be prosecuted for covering up the deadly defect. The Justice Department’s deal with GM has been widely criticized by consumer advocates and families who lost loved ones. Clarence Ditlow, head of the Center for Auto Safety, said, “GM killed over 100 people by knowingly putting a defective ignition switch into over 1 million vehicles. … Today, thanks to its lobbyists, GM officials walk off scot-free while its customers are six feet under.” We speak to Laura Christian. Her daughter Amber Rose died after her Chevrolet Cobalt crashed and the air bag failed to deploy on July 29, 2005. Amber was just 16 years old. Since then, Laura Christian has become an auto-safety advocate. She runs the Facebook page “GM Recall Survivors.” Seehttp://www.democracynow.org/2015/9/18/mother_of_gm_crash_victim_why
Ralph Nader addressed the subject.“RALPH NADER: Well, it’s a absurd settlement. It doesn’t deter future behavior by General Motors. Nobody went to jail, nobody is indicted. The company wasn’t indicted. The Justice Department under Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the Obama administration have created a new doctrine. It’s called “crimes without criminals.” They charge GM with a crime, but the company was not indicted, and no officials were indicted.” See http://www.democracynow.org/2015/9/18/gm_did_the_crime_drivers_do
Law Professor Rena Steinzor, author of Why Not Jail?, addressed the Justice Department’s continuing disappointing performance.
See September 18, 2015 full program athttp://www.democracynow.org/
Corporate Crime Reporter
See legal reactions athttp://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/news/200/critics-rip-gm-deferred-prosecution-in-switch-case/
and Settlement documents at http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/GM-DPA-and-Complaint.pdf
USA Today Editorial “Thursday’s disappointing conclusion after months of federal investigation is simply par for the course. In the past decade, corporations have gotten away with all manner of fraud, self-dealing, negligent manufacturing and market manipulation. The subprime mortgage industry nearly brought down the U.S. economy and ruined untold number of lives. But to the extent there was punishment at all after these acts, it usually involved a company writing a check, as if these firms ran on automatic pilot.” http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/09/17/gm-justice-settlement-cars-defective-editorials-debates/32569791/
What will it take to stop the needless deaths and injuries and produce safety and justice?
Lou
GM & U.S. Justice Department To Agree: Neither Safety Nor Justice Advance
GM & U.S. Justice Department To Agree: Neither Safety Nor Justice Advance
September, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
The NY Times reports:
“Federal prosecutors are poised to settle a criminal investigation into General Motors, according to people briefed on the matter, accusing the automaker of failing to disclose a safety defect tied to at least 124 deaths. The case, which the prosecutors plan to unveil on Thursday, would cap a wide-ranging investigation that tainted the automaker’s reputation for quality and safety and damaged its bottom line.
The prosecutors will impose a penalty of nearly $1 billion on G.M., according to people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity, but they are not expected to include charges against individual G.M. employees….
In recent months, some G.M. officials expected that the company would pay more than the $1.2 billion paid last year by Toyota for concealing unintended acceleration problems in its vehicles. The company also faced the possibility that it would have to plead guilty to a crime.
Instead, G.M. has agreed to sign a so-called deferred-prosecution agreement, the people said, a deal that effectively amounts to probation for corporations.
Notably, G.M. employees are also expected to avoid indictment, though the investigation will most likely continue, according to the people briefed on the matter. After more than a yearlong inquiry into the defect — which involved faulty ignition switches that could unexpectedly turn off, cutting the engine and disabling airbags — federal prosecutors in Manhattan and theFederal Bureau of Investigation struggled to pin criminal wrongdoing on any one G.M. employee. They concluded instead that the problems stemmed from a collective failure by the automaker….
“If a corporation plays nice and agrees to the terms, then the government gets some nice money, and the victims are just left in the dust,” said Susan Averill, the daughter-in-law of Jean Averill, who was killed in a 2003 crash of a Saturn Ion at the age of 81. Hers was the earliest fatality G.M. connected with the ignition defect. “It doesn’t seem right to me.”…
Laura Christian, the birth mother of 16-year-old Amber Rose, who was killed in a July 2005 crash in Maryland, said she was shocked to hear that G.M. might pay less than Toyota paid to resolve its case.
“That’s giving G.M. and the other auto manufacturers permission to do it again,” Ms. Christian said. “And all of the people who were killed in these crashes, including my daughter, will have lost their lives in vain.”
Clarence Ditlow notes:“GM killed over a 100 people by knowingly putting a defective ignition switch into over 1 million vehicles. Yet no one from GM went to jail or was even charged with criminal homicide. This shows a weakness in the law not a weakness in the facts. GM killed innocent consumers. GM has paid millions of dollars to its lobbyists to keep criminal penalties out of the Vehicle Safety Act since 1966. Today thanks to its lobbyists, GM officials walk off scot free while its customers are six feet under.”
Why won’t the Justice Department listen to crash victims? Revolving Door?
What about the former GM Executives that have been and still are in high positions in government? See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-nhtsaexec2004.php
Why won’t the Justice Department seek public input before signing away the future of U.S. safety and justice?
How many GM fatalities have not yet been identified? Note the thousands of GM crash fatalities each year. See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/MonthlyReportforSeptember2015.pdf How many more fatalities will occur involving the GM defective vehicles still on the roads?
Note the “at least” 124 deaths at $9.2 million each = $1.14 Billion. See DOT Policy Guidance on value of a life (copy attached).
GM and the “Justice” Department may agree, the public will not.
Presidential candidates and members of Congress in both parties are now rightly talking about the Federal government being corrupted by corporate money. Thousands of lives are being lost each year in the U.S.A. at a time in history when we have never had more technological ability to end crash violence. Yet the nation still does not have a Vision Zero goal for deaths and serious injuries in crashes. Why?
Lou
