Ralph Nader’s Birthday

Ralph Nader’s Birthday

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

February 27, is Nader’s birthday.

On Friday, February 26, I purchased a copy of “The Car Book, 2016” that became available from the Center for Auto Safety – founded by Nader more than 4 decades ago.

The Center and “The Car Book” are, in a sense, birthday presents from Ralph Nader to humanity – presents that keep on giving — saving lives and preventing injuries.

Clarence Ditlow has written a Foreword to “The Car Book, 2016” that describes the gifts to humanity stemming from Nader’s 1965 Book “Unsafe at Any Speed”.

“The 1966 federal laws, federal agency and general measures they created — have averted 3.5 million auto deaths over the past 50 years.” See attached Foreword.

To this we can add an estimated 4 serious injuries prevented or mitigated for every life saved.  That would be an estimated 14 million additional Americans who were saved from such serious injuries amputations, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, burn injuries, and numerous broken bones and damaged internal organs.  Using the DOT dollar values would put savings in the trillions.

How big a THANK YOU! to Ralph Nader is that worth?
The Center for Auto Safety has worked tirelessly for safety for decades on a tiny annual budget of less than the cost of one 30 second Super Bowl ad by an auto company.

“The Car Book, 2016” can be purchased online from the Center for Auto Safety at http://www.autosafety.org/books-reports

I am in the process of reviewing “The Car Book, 2016”, but readers can see my review of the 2015 edition at https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/MonthlyReportforJanuary2015.pdf

In the April 2016 issue of Consumer Reports we read something else we can thank Nader for:

A recent Consumer Reports survey shows that safety tops the list of factors buyers value most when they are considering new cars.”

That is a market improvement contributed to by 36 years of publishing “The Car Book”.

Imagine not just the lives saved and the injuries prevented by informed consumers who obtain and act on safety information, but also the regrets, aggravation, time, and money saved.

Thank you to Ralph Nader, and to Clarence Ditlow, Joan Claybrook, Jack Gillis, Mike Lemov and all the many people who have worked to improve safety over the decades.

Happy Birthday Ralph Nader!
Lou

 

Obama Administration’s Cass Sunstein – Money or Lives


Obama Administration’s Cass Sunstein – Money or Lives

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Safety leader Janette Fennell alerts us to the following:
Thanks to an article by Public Citizen Amit Narang in The Hill we are alerted to what has been happening:Cass Sunstein’s proposals for improving the regulatory system, laid out in a recent Bloomberg View column, will not solve any of the real problems plaguing the regulatory process….

“Now Congress is trying to make things even worse. A package of regulatory “reforms” — including a few of Sunstein’s proposals — will soon be introduced in the U.S. Senate. As a recent editorial from The New York Times pointed out, these measures would harm our system of public protections by letting Big Business rig the rules in its favor at the expense of working families, consumers and small businesses.

It is not surprising that Sunstein has a blind spot when it comes to delays. Regulatory delays at the U.S. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) were systemic and reached unprecedented levels while he served as the agency’s administrator, levels even worse than under past administrations that were openly hostile to regulation of any kind.

Cost-benefit analysis is not the panacea for the regulatory system that Sunstein claims it to be. Rather, overreliance on cost-benefit analysis is one of the major problems right now in our regulatory process and is linked to excessive regulatory delay. The examples are legion.

New passenger rail safety technology that would have prevented the Amtrak train derailment in Pennsylvania last year was derided by Sunstein when he was administrator of OIRA as not passing a cost-benefit test. The head of the railroad industry lobby cited Sunstein’s remarks in urging Congress to delay a requirement that the new technology be in place by the end of 2015, seven years after the railroad safety law was passed. Railroad safety officials, on the other hand, have called the railroad safety technology “one of the top ten most wanted transportation safety improvements of 2016.”

Another casualty of cost-benefit analysis was the so-called “backover rule,” which required car manufacturers to include rear-view cameras in their cars. They are a proven and effective way of preventing fatalities when drivers accidentally back over pedestrians, often young children. By law, the rule was supposed to be finalized in 2011, but wasn’t actually finalized until 2014. Sunstein’s OIRA would not clear the rule because it didn’t pass his beloved cost-benefit test.

While the costs to car manufacturers were well-known, the benefits of saving pedestrians from being backed over, particularly young children, and the anguish of parents and drivers who accidentally did so, were impossible to monetize. In Sunstein’s view, this inability to assign monetary values to the lives of innocent children meant it didn’t pass his cost-benefit test.

OIRA eventually cleared the rule, but only after Sunstein left and only after Public Citizen sued the U.S. Department of Transportation to finalize and issue the rule. Hundreds of lives were needlessly lost while the rule was delayed.”  Seehttps://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/the-administration/268005-why-cass-sunstein-is-wrong-on-regulatory-reform

Who is Cass Sunstein?  See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cass_Sunstein

Why did the Obama Administration appoint Cass Sunstein to head the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs? What happens when people who value money over people are elected or appointed to high positions in government?    People suffer and die – needlessly.

Ralph Nader, who founded Public Citizen, continues to warn us about electing big money servants rather than public servants.  See his latest interview athttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/interviews/consumer-advocate-author-ralph-nader/

 

Marianne Karth’s Latest Post – Are You Aware That Death By Motor Vehicle Is One of the Leading Causes of Death?


Marianne Karth’s Latest Post – Are You Aware That Death By Motor Vehicle Is One of the Leading Causes of Death?

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

One our members continues to examine the major problem of crash deaths and serious injuries – and what we can do to end preventable tragedies that have been going on for way too long.  See her post that cites Lemov’s book Car Safety Wars.

How do we get enough people to understand the problems and the solutions, and then to take action to end such tragedies?
Lou

 

Letter to NHTSA To Reopen Fiat Chrysler Jeep Investigation


Letter to NHTSA To Reopen Fiat Chrysler Jeep Investigation

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
ABC News reports:

“An auto safety advocate is calling on the government to reopen an investigation of rear-crash fires in older Jeep SUVs after finding at least 11 more deaths since the vehicles were recalled.

The deaths show that the recall repair — installing a trailer hitch to protect gas tanks in low-speed crashes — hasn’t been effective, said Clarence Ditlow, head of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety.

He is calling on the government to investigate, saying the Jeeps are unsafe and a remedy should be developed that saves lives.

“As far as Fiat Chrysler is concerned, Jeeps can continue to crash and burn until they are all off the road,” Ditlow wrote in a letter to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx dated Thursday.

It’s been almost three years since Fiat Chrysler, which makes Jeeps, began recalling 1.56 million SUVs with plastic gas tanks that are mounted behind the rear axle and can rupture in a crash, spilling gasoline.

Ditlow said he found a total of 19 fire deaths in older Jeeps in a fatal accident database maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Eleven were in Jeeps that had been recalled, with eight more in SUVs not included in the recall, he said.

The deaths since the June 2013 recall bring the number of people killed in fiery crashes involving the Jeeps to as many as 86. Before the recall, NHTSA counted 75 deaths. The recalled vehicles include 1993-1998 Grand Cherokees and 2002 to 2007 Libertys….  

The article continues and contains the information that 

“Fiat Chrysler has agreed to offer $1,000 above market value trade-in prices on a new vehicle to owners of 1993 to 1998 Grand Cherokees. Owners of both the recalled Liberty and Grand Cherokee SUVs would get $100 gift cards to have their vehicles repaired.”

See  http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/safety-advocate-asks-govt-reopen-jeep-fire-investigation-37055293

The Center for Auto Safety (CAS) letter to current DOT Secretary Foxx and current NHTSA Administrator Rosekind along with photos, and data on the fatal crashes found are included in the following release.   

http://www.autosafety.org/sites/default/files/imce_staff_uploads/CASNewsImage.jpg

February 19, 2016202-328-7700

CAS Asks DOT Secretary Foxx and NHTSA Administrator Rosekind to Reopen Jeep InvestigationJeep Fire Deaths Since NHTSA Jeep Recall Request in June 2013 Exceed All Takata Deaths 

 Based on examination of Jeep fire crashes in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) 2013 & 2014 FARS database and police/medical/court records that showed more fire deaths than Takata airbag inflator shrapnel deaths, the Center for Auto Safety today called on DOT Secretary Foxx and NHTSA Administrator Rosekind to reopen the defect investigation into the 1993-04 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 1993-01 Cherokee and 2002-07 Liberty.

CAS Executive Director Clarence Ditlow said: 

“The most lethal vehicle safety defect in America today is not the Takata airbag inflator. It’s the fuel tank behind the rear axle in the 1993-98 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 1993-01 Cherokee and 2002-07 Liberty.  The Takata airbag inflator has claimed 9 lives in the US. Just since June 3, 2013 when NHTSA asked Chrysler to recall the 1993-98 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and 2002-07 Liberty, there have been 47 deaths in fatal fire crashes in the investigated Jeeps, at least 19 of which have been fire deaths according to NHTSA or medical records. The Grand Cherokee and Liberty accounted for 14 of the 19 fire deaths with 12 deaths occurring in direct rear impact crashes. 

This is the recall that Chrysler never wanted to do and will never do right. As far as Fiat-Chrysler is concerned Jeeps can continue to crash and burn until they are all off the road. The Center for Auto Safety calls on you as the Secretary of Transportation and as the Administrator of NHTSA to reopen the Jeep fuel tank investigation and obtain a remedy that saves lives versus the fire deaths that will continue to occur if Fiat-Chrysler is left alone.”

#     #     #

CAS Letter to DOT Secretary Foxx and NHTSA Administrator Rosekind

Jeep Fire Fatalities and Injuries Since NHTSA Recall Request

Photos of Jeep Victims:

http://www.autosafety.org/sites/default/files/imce_staff_uploads/skyler.jpg             http://www.autosafety.org/sites/default/files/imce_staff_uploads/reeds_0.jpg Skyler Anderson-Coughlin                                      Chantae and Danny Reed

http://www.autosafety.org/sites/default/files/imce_staff_uploads/kayla.jpg Kayla White  

The letter and data must be read.  The failures of DOT, NHTSA, and Fiat Chrysler are shocking in the amount of preventable tragedy they produced and will continue to produce if they again fail to protect.  
Lou

 

Latest NHTSA Facts on Deaths and Injuries


Latest NHTSA Facts on Deaths and Injuries

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

NHTSA has released its latest data in two publications.*  NCSA’s Crash*Stat “Early Estimate of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities for the First Nine Months (Jan-Sep) of 2015” (DOT HS 812 240):  A statistical projection of traffic fatalities for the first nine months of 2015 shows that an estimated 26,000 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes. This represents an increase of about 9.3 percent as compared to the 23,796 fatalities that were reported to have occurred in the first nine months of 2014. See http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812240.pdf

*    Quick Facts 2014 (DOT HS 812 234):  NCSA has released the 2014 Quick Facts publication as a quick reference to the most asked questions regarding motor vehicle traffic fatalities and crashes.  This publication provides the most current data at your fingertips.  See http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812234.pdf

Keep in mind NHTSA statistics tend to under count fatalities.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-officerdies.php
Lou

 

Hope For and From Crash Victims For An End To Crash Violence Tragedies


Hope For and From Crash Victims For An End To Crash Violence Tragedies

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

In response to my recommendation to sign a petition to the President by crash victims, I received a Thank You video that is inspiring.
See “A Gift From Mary” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrOQzuaqFI4
Mary is one of Marianne Karth’s daughters that several years later died of crash injuries.  
See the Karth family story and sign their petition at their web site http://annaleahmary.com/2016/02/soon-to-come-the-delivery-of-a-vision-zero-petition-to-washington-dc/
The Karth family is trying to change how society values lives so as to put an end to crash violence forevermore for all humanity – setting a Vision Zero goal for crash deaths and serious injuries.
The Federal government currently places a dollar value on a “statistical” life at $9.4 million.  But a life is priceless.
Consider the “value” of the love, creativity, and work of a family to try to produce greater safety for all of us.   An inspiring example is this petition and this “Thank You” video.
I think of it as work worth many trillions of dollars for helping us end deaths and serious injuries in a decade.   Imagine this “Thank You” video going viral and becoming a “Thank You” for the safety of all humanity – forevermore.
Thank You to Ralph Nader!
We all owe a great “Thank You” to Ralph Nader whose work launched efforts that have saved an estimated 3.5 million lives so far – just in the U.S.A.  Seehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/ralph-nader/your-safety-and-your-cong_b_8743044.html
Thanks to that work citizens can now continue the work for an end to the problems of crash deaths and serious injuries – and we still have a long way to go.
Here in America we are approaching 4 million deaths from crash injuries – currently with noOfficial end in sight.  Why?   See  https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/MonthlyReportforJanuary2016-Corrected.pdf 
Law professors now and philosophers for centuries have addressed Why.   See the lecture series on “Justice: What’s the right thing to do?”
An excellent lecture on the subject of “cost – benefit analyses” is available online.  Seehttp://www.justiceharvard.org/2011/02/episode-two/#watch Professor Michael Sandel makes a timely case for a new politics of the common good.  
That is what the Karth family is doing now – and doing so well.  
Thank you to the Karth family!

Lou