Blame the Drivers for Accidents and Blame Government and Industry for Deaths and Injuries

Blame the Drivers for Accidents and Blame Government and Industry for Deaths and Injuries

February

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Here they go again!  Fatalities are rising so hit drivers and hit the road (safety summits to find “new initiatives”) to deflect the responsibility from government officialdom.

James Hood of Consumer Affairs reports:

For years, traffic deaths have been declining steadily as cars become more crashworthy and enforcement of drunken driving laws have been ramped up. But that all came to a screeching halt last year, with traffic deaths showing a steep 9.3% increase in the first nine months of 2015.

NHTSA estimates that more than 26,000 people died in traffic crashes in the first nine months of 2015, compared to the 23,796 fatalities in the first nine months of 2014. U.S. regions nationwide showed increases ranging from 2% to 20%, and federal safety regulators blame driver behavior. 

“It’s time to drive behavioral changes in traffic safety and that means taking on new initiatives and addressing persistent issues like drunk driving and failure to wear seat belts,” said Dr. Mark Rosekind, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)….

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx says he recognizes the unexpected spike in 2015 deaths is a signal that more needs to be done. His department is holding a series of “safety summits” beginning today in Sacramento, hoping the summits will “provide us with new approaches to add to the tried-and-true tactics that we know save lives.”

Foxx says it’s clear that “unsafe behaviors and human choices … contribute to increasing traffic deaths on a national scale.” He quotes the NHTSA research as showing that human factors contribute to 94% of crashes.

Red flags

“We’re seeing red flags across the U.S. and we’re not waiting for the situation to develop further,” said Dr. Mark Rosekind, NHTSA Administrator. “It’s time to drive behavioral changes in traffic safety and that means taking on new initiatives and addressing persistent issues like drunk driving and failure to wear seat belts.”

Rosekind notes the estimated 2015 increase in highway deaths follows years of steady, gradual declines. Traffic deaths declined 1.2% in 2014 and more than 22% from 2000 to 2014.

The safety summits will address drunk, drugged, distracted, and drowsy driving; speeding; failure to use safety features such as seat belts and child seats; and new initiatives to protect vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists, NHTSA said.”  Seehttp://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/traffic-deaths-up-nearly-10-driver-behavior-blamed-020816.html

What’s wrong with this?  For many decades, we have known that people are human and make mistakes – lots of them – every day, everywhere.  We have also known since Nader’s Unsafe at Any Speed published in1965, that laws and vehicle design changes were needed to prevent the deaths and injuries.

Enough is enough!

Marianne Karth just posted an article that gives one example of the government/industry failures to protect people from deaths and serious injuries over the past many decades.  See  http://annaleahmary.com/2016/02/underride-rulemaking-will-we-get-it-right-this-time/

 

Today we have more technologies to prevent crashes and deaths and serious injuries than ever before in the history of humankind – regardless of driver errors.   As Nader often has said:

“This country has far more problems than it deserves and far more solutions than it applies.”  See American Blessings, www.runningpress.com

NHTSA political leaders have often blamed humans for crashes by citing reports on causes of accidents – but not on what political leaders did not do to prevent the crashes, injuries, and deaths that resulted from human errors.

One story I witnessed is that when former Administrator Diane Steed, having gone through the Revolving Door and at that time funded by GM, came back to NHTSA looking for such a report from the NHTSA librarian.  Ms. Steed became angry when the librarian could not produce the report she was looking for because Ms. Steed was mistakenly referring to the Tri-level study as the “Three Cities” study.  See the report


Tri-level study of the causes of traffic accidents: final report. Executive summary.
Treat, J. R.; Tumbas, N. S.; McDonald, S. T….  [more]
1979-05
Abstract: Technical Volume I reports causal factor tabulations from Phases II through V (1972-75). Volume II reports analysis tasks dealing with driver vision, knowledge, psychological make-up, etc. Additional analysis tasks conducted under a contract modification are repo…  [more]
Description: Report covers the period Aug 1972-June 1977. Released Oct 1979. Contract amount – $1,531,466
Other Identifiers: DOT HS 805 099, DOT-HS-034-3-535-79-TAC(S)

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/64993

Enough is enough!

Lou

 

Volkswagen Deliberately Designed Diesels To Poison Our Air & Our Lungs, Then Lied, Cheated, and Covered Up the Crime For Years


Volkswagen Deliberately Designed Diesels To Poison Our Air & Our Lungs, Then Lied, Cheated, and Covered Up the Crime For Years

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Newsweek reported:“By the end of 2016, VW’s cars, rigged with “defeat devices” to cheat on emissions tests, will have pumped out enough excess toxic pollution to directly contribute to the premature deaths of around 60 people in the U.S. alone, MIT and Harvard University researchers determined in a new study published Monday in Environmental Research Letters .”  Seehttp://www.newsweek.com/60-people-will-die-early-thanks-volkswagen-388117 
And now the NY Times reports on the public relations problem of Volkswagen.

“In the months since it admitted it designed its diesel cars to cheat on tailpipe-emissions tests, the company has struggled with its messaging. A low point came last month when Matthias Müller, the new chief executive, visited the United States and told NPR, “We didn’t lie,” when VW clearly did. The outcry forced Mr. Müller to call NPR back and revise his statement.

The reaction to the scandal has been swift. A recent Harris Poll of Americans’ attitudes toward the 100 most visible companies ranked Volkswagen dead last.”

See http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/business/international/vws-crisis-strategy-forward-reverse-u-turn.html?emc=eta1

Consumer Reports’ rating of Which Brands Make The Best Cars? ranks Volkswagen 15th and average for Predicted Reliability.

The Car Book, 2016 gives mostly low safety ratings to Volkswagen models. Only the gasoline powered Jetta earned a “Best Bet” rating. 
What happened to German engineering?

 

Virginia Dealers Pulling Political Strings To Sell Unfixed Recalled Cars


Virginia Dealers Pulling Political Strings To Sell Unfixed Recalled Cars

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The Daily Press reports:

“Consumer advocates are sounding the alarm about legislation that they say would let car dealers off the hook when they sell recalled vehicles.

The Virginia Automobile Dealers Association says that’s not what the bills do at all. Legislators sponsoring the bills agreed, but also said they’re willing to take another look.

House Bill 1232 and Senate Bill 709 both read as consumer notice bills, and they’ve coasted through the session thus far on unanimous votes and without complaint. They require car dealers to provide written notice to buyers who purchase vehicles that have been recalled.

State law doesn’t prohibit these vehicles from being sold and it doesn’t require notice, though some dealers provide it.”  See

http://www.dailypress.com/news/politics/dp-nws-ga-automobile-recall-20160207-story.html

Safety leader Rosemary Shahan asks that we warn the safety community and provides information resources:“warn our friends and allies about this horrible anti-safety legislation, on the brink of passage in VA. It’s similar to legislation that Joan opposed in CA (her letter of opposition to the CA legislation is linked below), along with CARS and many other consumer / safety organizations.  Faced with burgeoning numbers of recalled cars, the dealers are seeking legislation in various states to insulate themselves from liability when they knowingly and deliberately sell consumers unsafe recalled used cars — without bothering to get them repaired first.  All they would have to do to comply with the new law is “disclose” that the car is being recalled. No matter how they advertised the car. Even if they claimed in their ads that the car had “passed a rigorous 125+ point inspection” and was “Quality Certified.” And charged EXTRA for it. Even if they claimed verbally that the car was perfectly safe — something their victims would find it hard to prove. And of course, it would be impossible for them to prove, if they are dead. For many decades, such inherently deceptive disclosures have been held to be illegal, in appellate court decisions regarding dealer’s fraudulent and misleading practices / unsafe vehicles. So far, auto safety advocates have succeeded in beating back these cynical attempts to undermine existing state law protections, defeating dealer-backed bills in NJ and CA.  But the dealers are close to winning in Virginia, where they have snookered legislators into voting for a bill that would shift liability from unscrupulous car dealers onto their victims. Now that we’re raising alarms about the bill, the dealers are claiming that legislators and the public shouldn’t worry about this anti-safety legislation, because, to quote the dealers: “the vast majority of recalls are for minor things.” Direct quote: Don Hall, president and CEO of the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association, said ….His group requested these bills, which Del. Greg Habeeb and state Sen. Ryan McDougle – both attorneys – are carrying through theGeneral Assembly.

“It is a disclosure bill,” Hall said. “None of that changes liability at all.”  Hall also noted that the vast majority of recalls are for minor things.

Read more:

http://www.dailypress.com/news/politics/dp-nws-ga-automobile-recall-20160207-story.html The VA bills, HB 1232 and SB 709, are similar to bills the dealers backed in NJ and CA that consumer groups defeated last year. Here are letters of opposition to the CA legislation:James Sturdevant and Former NHTSA Administrator Joan ClaybrookConsumers for Auto Reliability and SafetyConsumers UnionNational Association of Consumer AdvocatesConsumer Federation of CaliforniaConsumer Attorneys of CaliforniaInternational Association of Machinists and Aerospace WorkersConsumer Action, CALPIRG, Housing and Economic Rights Advocates, Courage Campaign, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, Consumer Watchdog

Thankfully we have Rosemary Shahan and other consumer advocates watching and warning us about political strings sneakily being pulled to endanger us all – for money.

Lou

 

Crash Victim Petitioners Seek Well Deserved Support


Crash Victim Petitioners Seek Well Deserved Support

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Please see and support this petition to advance safety for us all.

It already has nearly 16,000 signatures.  It deserves several hundred million signatures.  See and sign at 

Every signature will increase the possibility that President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama – parents of two young daughters – will recognize and finally act upon the pain and suffering of American parents who lose the lives of young daughters – and sons.
All Americans would benefit.
Lou

 

Takata Defect Cover Up Litigation – Woman Paralyzed


Takata Defect Cover Up Litigation – Woman Paralyzed

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The NY Times reports:

“JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As the safety crisis surrounding Takata’s airbags that are prone to rupture has mushroomed, the Japanese auto supplier has insisted that the propellant in its airbags is safe.

But on Friday, testimony in a Florida court showed that Takata’s own engineers discarded evidence that may have shown otherwise as long as 16 years ago. As early as 2000, around the time the propellant, which includes a compound called ammonium nitrate, was introduced into Takata models, failures occurred during internal testing.

But Takata altered its test data to hide the failures from its biggest customer, Honda, and a senior Takata executive ordered some of the evidence be discarded, the testimony said….”

Judge James H. Daniel of Duval County Court agreed with Takata that there was not enough evidence linking Takata’s actions directly with Ms. Mincey’s accident and injuries. But he said he was open to considering more evidence, which Mr. Leopold said he would provide.

Still, safety advocates found it disturbing that Takata might have known about potential problems years ago, but not immediately reported them to customers, automakers and safety regulators.

“It’s very damning,” said Rosemary Shahan, founder of Consumers for Auto Reliability.

“It’s bad enough to have a faulty product, it’s even worse to cover it up.”  See

Lou

 

NHTSA: Our Safety from Dangerous Airbags “will take years”


NHTSA: Our Safety from Dangerous Airbags “will take years”

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Reuters reports:

“U.S. auto safety regulators are examining whether an additional 70 million to 90 million Takata Corp (7312.T) airbag inflators should be recalled because they may endanger drivers, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

That would nearly quadruple the 29 million inflators recalled so far and linked to nine deaths in the United States….

Takata cited its agreement with regulators in November to pay a $70 million penalty to NHTSA in a settlement that included its commitment to stop making inflators that use ammonium nitrate by 2018. It also pledged to declare all remaining ammonium nitrate inflators defective by 2019 unless it can demonstrate they are safe.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration continues to investigate all Takata inflators using ammonium nitrate, but it has not yet found sufficient evidence to direct automakers to recall the remaining inflators, said spokesman Gordon Trowbridge.

“This issue will take years to resolve,” Trowbridge said.”  

See  http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-takata-inflators-exclusive-idUSKCN0VV0L6

Americans need to ask:  Why?

Lou

 

Republican/Industry Takata Report


Republican/Industry Takata Report

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Here is the Takata Report:  See http://www.takatapanel.com/panel-report/

Here is the Skinner Takata Panel.  Note former Republican appointees who have gone through the Government Industry Revolving Door.  See http://www.takatapanel.com/the-panel/
Attached is the NHTSA Takata Monitor Application and note the Information on “Potential Conflicts of Interest or Bias”.
How did NHTSA under President Obama approve this panel?  Buypartisan?
More evidence of a rigged system.
Lou