Family Petitions President Obama for a Vision Zero Executive Order


Family Petitions President Obama for a Vision Zero Executive Order

January, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Family that lost 2 daughters to crash violence asks for an Executive Order to “Save lives, not dollars.”  See

Signers of this petition help build a Safer America for all of us – forever.
Lou

 

DOT and Auto Industry To Announce Agreement


DOT and Auto Industry To Announce Agreement

January, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

An excellent article by David Shepardson reveals a “Titanic” agreement between government and the auto industry to be announced at the Detroit Auto Show.

“The U.S. government and a group of global automakers are set to unveil a voluntary agreement at the Detroit auto show on Friday aimed at improving auto industry safety and spurring culture changes, according to company and government officials.

The accord could set the framework for further discussions on safety reforms and mark a new era of cooperation between automakers and regulators after a record-setting year of safety fines, recalls and investigations into malfunctioning vehicles made by General Motors Co (GM.N), Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCAU.N), Honda Motor Co (7267.T) and others.

But it stops short of what many safety advocates have urged Congress and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to adopt: new binding legal requirements to toughen safety rules. And automakers may be able to raise the voluntary agreement to argue against future proposed regulations, saying the accord makes legally binding rules unnecessary….”  

NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said on Monday in an interview on the sidelines of the Detroit show that the agency cannot make vehicles safe simply by imposing new regulations and handing down fines. He said he hoped a deal would be announced Friday.

“We’re going to have to find new tools – that means new collaborations, new partnerships,” Rosekind said.

But the voluntary agreement will not be enforceable – and is not as tough as what some safety advocates have called for. With only a year remaining in the Obama administration, there is a shrinking window to complete new legally binding auto safety rules.”  See http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autoshow-detroit-safety-idUSKCN0UP2EG20160112

How many will die?

When the Titanic sunk in 1912, it had 2,227 people on board but lifeboats for only 980 people.  1,500 people died.  The lifeboat standard was not enough. Seehttp://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1058&context=cong

When government and industry get together and fail to protect, the people perish.  How many Americans will perish as a result of this NHTSA Industry agreement?

Since vehicle violence currently results in about 100 deaths, 400 serious injuries, costing about $2 billion each average day in the U.S.A. today, the number will be Titanic.

 

From Depths of Tragedy To Hopes For Safety


From Depths of Tragedy To Hopes For Safety

January, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Please see video on what even children understand and feel.http://annaleahmary.com/2015/12/give-1-for-iihs-crash-tests-on-5516-3-yrs-1-day-after-our-deadly-underride-crash/

Please don’t miss this video.  Please share it.

Lou

 

Consumer Groups Petition NHTSA For Mandatory – Not Voluntary – Safety Standards


Consumer Groups Petition NHTSA For Mandatory – Not Voluntary – Safety Standards

January, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members: For Immediate Release: January 13, 2016 Contact:

Joan Claybrook
202-422-6731 (mobile) Harvey Rosenfield(310) 392-0072(310) 345 8816 (mobile) Consumer Advocates Ask Auto Safety Agency to Make New Technologies Standard Equipment Urge NHTSA Not to Defer to Industry “Self Regulation” Three of the nation’s top consumer advocates today asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to adopt as standard equipment three new advanced safety technologies that could prevent thousands of deaths and injuries, and billions in property damage, from rear-end crashes. The formal petition by Consumer Watchdog, the Center for Auto Safety and Joan Claybrook, former NHTSA Administrator and now President Emeritus of Public Citizen, asks the agency to support Automatic Emergency Breaking, a set of three technologies that use combinations of radar, lidar (reflected laser light) and cameras to prevent collisions. • Forward Collision Warning alerts a motorist (via audio or visual signals) that a collision with a car in front is imminent. • Crash Imminent Braking intervenes when the driver does not respond to the Forward Collision Warning; it automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision or reduce the vehicle’s speed at impact. • Dynamic Brake Support applies supplemental braking when the braking applied by the driver is insufficient to avoid a collision. The technologies are proven and have already been deployed by some auto manufacturers in higher-end vehicles, the Petition points out.  Moreover, in October NHTSA agreed to consider whether to order manufacturers to install the equipment in heavy vehicles like trucks. And just last month, the agency decided to incorporate these systems into its car rating system, the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), so that consumers are able to determine whether which cars offer AEB as an option. “There is no reason to distinguish between the dangers posed by heavy vehicles, such as trucks, and those posed by light vehicles, such as cars,” says the Petition, authored by Harvey Rosenfield, founder of Consumer Watchdog and now counsel to the organization. And “as helpful as the rating system is when it comes to comparison shopping, a binding regulation is the only way to ensure the minimum safety of every motorist on the road, not just those who can afford the most expensive luxury vehicles.” Petition Urges NHTSA to Mandate Safety Features, Not Defer to Industry “Self-Regulation” Noting that auto manufacturers were lobbying to “‘voluntarily’ establish safety standards in place of the mandatory safety regulation requested by this Petition,” the Petition urges NHTSA to reject that approach and proceed through the formal process of adopting mandatory installation requirements for all vehicles. As the Petition explains, “voluntary agreements”: [A]re developed behind closed doors, with no public involvement; are not binding on any company or particular vehicle or model at any given time and can be unilaterally (and secretly) abandoned; cannot be enforced by any members of the public, NHTSA or any other government agency; and often do not reflect objective, scientific or empirical research. Indeed, they are typically the product of industry players seeking to maximize profit and marketing concerns at the expense of robust consumer protection, reflecting the lowest common denominator of industry practice …. As Congress said in 1966, when it created NHTSA: ‘The promotion of motor vehicle safety through voluntary standards has largely failed.’” The Petition also notes that making the safety technologies standard equipment is the only way to ensure that the technologies are rapidly and uniformly deployed and “that all motorists are protected by available safety technologies, not just those in higher income brackets.” Finally, the Petition says that the formal rulemaking process is essential to protecting “public confidence in NHTSA,” in what it notes as “a challenging era” for the agency. Now is not the time to permit the automobile industry to regulate itself. With the record number of vehicle recalls in recent years; the Volkswagen and Hyundai fuel economy scandals; and the extraordinarily rapid introduction of new vehicle automation technologies, some of which pose independent and unprecedented social and safety concerns, it is more important than ever that NHTSA proceed through the legal rulemaking process, with its guarantees of science-based decision-making, due process and disclosure. This is the only way to assure public confidence in the agency’s actions.

 

Center for Auto Safety Intervenes in VW Pollution Lawsuit – CAS Press Release


Center for Auto Safety Intervenes in VW Pollution Lawsuit – CAS Press Release

January, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

FYI here is a Release on this important case important to protecting the public health.

Lou

Center for Auto Safety Moves to Intervene in Justice Department Lawsuit Against VW

January 5, 2016

The Center for Auto Safety (CAS) filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit filed yesterday by the Justice Department on behalf of the United States of America (US) in US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan against Volkswagen AG, Audi AG, Porsche AG and their affiliated American companies (VW).  As a consumer group that has long worked for clean cars and improved fuel efficiency and which has the Safe Climate Campaign integrated into its structure, CAS has a strong, independent interest in this litigation and seeing that VW is held accountable for its action which have damaged VW owners and the environment.

Dan Becker, head of the Safe Climate Campaign at CAS, stated:

“It is imperative for the protection of public health that all of the VWs with defeat devices be repaired so that they stop emitting excessive pollution. VW must also take actions that will make up for the excess pollution they have already and will emit, making the atmosphere whole.  They must begin by switching from polluting diesels to truly clean automobiles such as electric vehicles.”

Clarence Ditlow, CAS Executive Director, stated:

The Clean Act provides for citizen suits and intervention. CAS has intervened in this lawsuit over VW’s unprecedented emission cheating to protect the public interest and insure that VW is held fully accountable for its actions under all applicable laws.  The US does not oppose CAS’ intervention in this lawsuit.

#     #     #

CAS has a long history in working on motor vehicle fuel economy and emissions dating back to the early 1970’s. The Safe Climate Campaign, a program of CAS, is headed by Dan Becker.

CAS is represented by Hausfeld LLP, 1700 K Street NW Ste 650, Washington DC 20006, 202.540.7200.

Hausfeld is a leading global law firm with offices in Washington, DC; Philadelphia; San Francisco; Brussels; and London. The firm has a broad range of complex litigation expertise, particularly in consumer, antitrust/competition, financial services, sports and entertainment, environmental, mass torts, and human rights matters. For more information about the firm, please visit:www.hausfeld.com.

Motion to Intervene

Proposed Complaint

Clarence Ditlow

Executive Director

Center for Auto Safety

1825 Connecticut Ave NW #330

Washington DC 20009″

 

Adverse Weather and Adverse Road Conditions


Adverse Weather and Adverse Road Conditions

January, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
As we are seeing severe weather conditions, it raises questions of crashes and weather.

Back in the year 2000, I did an analysis at NHTSA on the statistics of weather and crashes.  

The numbers then revealed:

*  Large Trucks and Buses were over involved compared with cars and light trucks.  See slide 17

*  About 7,000 people were killed each year in adverse weather and road conditions in the 1990s.  See slide 21

NHTSA’s latest figures for 2013 show about 3,500 killed in adverse weather conditions (does not include adverse road conditions).  See p. 110 at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812139.pdf
Lou