Comment On NHTSA EMS Proposal

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Deadline for comments is June 30, 2016.  You can comment at https://www.regulations.gov/searchResults?rpp=25&po=0&s=NHTSA-2016-0035-0001&fp=true&ns=true

My comments are as follows:Comment: Too little emergency medical care, too late, for too may Americans. Each average day in the U.S.A. today about 56 Americans die of crash injuries without transport to any facility for timely, optimal emergency medical care. Each average day about another 44 die of crash injuries after transport – often to a local facility without the capabilities to properly treat the injured – and too often, too late.See my previous petitions at:https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-needlesslywhy.php https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/MR-Strickland-NEMSAC-FICEMS.pdfSupporting data is at:https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/urgency.phphttps://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog/blog-emsyourmoneyandoryourlife/https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog/blog-nationalacademyofsciencesanationaltraumacaresystemintegratingmilitaryandciviliantraumasystemstoachievezeropreventabledeathsafterinjury/

Lou

____________________Lou Lombardowww.CareForCrashVictims.com

Citizen Speaks Truth To Power

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Marianne Karth is upset – as we all should be – by President Obama’s words and continued inaction in his last days as President.

“Dear President Obama,

I sat at my computer the other day and listened to you speak at a Town Hall on PBS News Hour (recorded June 1, 2016).

You said that crash fatalities were a major public health problem — as if they no longer are. You implied that we have already done, or are already doing, everything possible to prevent 33,000 people from dying on the roads of our country every year.

In fact, your attitude brushes off my daughters’ deaths as inevitable rather than potentially preventable.  It sounds like, to you, their deaths — their lives —  weren’t worth enough to put out the additional effort needed to decrease the fatality rate to the fullest extent possible. And not once have you acknowledged our petition for Vision Zero action.

Let me tell you, that makes me mad! Would you be any less so were your family in our shoes?! Would that change your tune about the acceptability of the current crash fatality rate? Would you suddenly speak out against the decades of political tug-of-war which delay — over and over — needed safety measures?

Would you go beyond talking about it and do what no one else can do: lead the way in setting our entire nation (and not just some programs in the USDOT or scattered efforts in states, cities, and communities) on a course of aggressively moving toward zero crash deaths & serious injuries?

Would you, in fact, make Traffic Safety a national priority–placing it on the list of important issues listed on whitehouse.gov and then do something about it, e.g.,:

  1. Set a National Vision Zero Goal?
  2. Establish a White House Vision Zero Task Force?
  3. Sign a Vision Zero Executive Order to allow Vision Zero Rulemaking?
  4. Get We the People involved in the action and the solution by promoting the development of a nationwide network of Traffic Safety/Vision Zero Community Groups?
  5. Appoint a Traffic Safety Ombudsman who would oversee all of this and be an  Advocate for vulnerable road users (which includes us all) —untainted by political pressures?

President, Obama, don’t be misled by DOT’s commitment to the TZD (Toward Zero Deaths) initiative. It is obviously not enough. I should know; I have spent endless hours engaged in a battle for safer trucking, and others have spent many more years doing so.

Take the bull by the horn, make use of the authority invested in you as the leader of this country, and end this public health travesty. And please, talk to me about this; show me that you are not ignoring our heartfelt, data-driven pleas.

On behalf of AnnaLeah & Mary (and countless others), who can no longer speak for themselves,

Marianne Karth

p.s. What is stopping you from taking this action which would benefit us all?

On the PBS News Hour, June 1, 2016, starting at 1:57 to about 3:05 on this video,  hear President Obama speak about the crash fatality rate:

https://www.facebook.com/newshour/videos/10154247237078675/

The President has the responsibility and power to do that which Marianne Karth is asking for and he should do so – unless there is a higher political power stopping him.

For Vision Zero goals set by others around the world see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_Zero

Lou

____________________Lou Lombardowww.CareForCrashVictims.com

Citizen Janette Fennell of KidsAndCars 2 More Child Deaths in Hot Vehicles

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

A citizen who cares alerts us:

Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it has…

 

We have learned about 2 more deaths that took place over the weekend and now the number of child vehicular deaths has risen to 23.  Just two shy of the total number of fatalities that took place last year (25) at this time. 

 

That’s right; four children have died in hot cars since Friday.  Two on Friday, (Williamsport, PA & Navarre, FL) one on Saturday (Rocky Comfort, MO) and yet another one on Sunday. (Dallas, TX)

 

We simply cannot accept these deaths as tragedies and move on.  KidsAndCars.org is the only organization that has been in the forefront, working to ensure technology is added to vehicles that can prevent these heartbreaking deaths.

 

PLEASE add the Look Before You Lock safety messages to your website, articles, TV segments, billboards and anywhere you can reach people who care for our children.  Yes, it takes a village…

 

What is the answer? PLEASE work with us to make sure that technology is finally added to vehicles to prevent these horrific deaths.  The auto industry already recognizes that we’re human and our memories often fail us. Today our cars are able to warn us if we leave our headlights on, our keys are in the ignition, our car door is open, if we are low on gas and if our seat belt isn’t buckled. But if a child is left behind, it can be fatal.  So we believe it’s reasonable to believe that technology can provide an alert if a child is left alone in a vehicle.

 

Safety is something every family deserves. It shouldn’t be an option. And it shouldn’t be political. The federal government and automakers, along with safety advocates, have the ability to solve this problem. Why can’t we have technology tell us if a child remains in the car? We can do this. We must do this.  It’s about working together to save lives by exploring all available options that would prevent a child from being left behind in a vehicle.

 

Other life-saving child safety initiatives KidsAndCars.org spearheaded include adoption of federal safety standards requiring all vehicles be equipped with trunk release latches to prevent trunk entrapment, safer power window switches to prevent children from being strangled, and brake transmission shift interlock systems so children cannot inadvertently knock a vehicle into gear. Most recently a federal DOT rule was issued requiring rear visibility systems as standard equipment on all new passenger vehicles by May 2018.

 

We know technology works. Today, technology saves your car battery. Tomorrow, it could save your child.

Fondest Regards,Janette E. FennellFounder & PresidentKidsAndCars.orgOffice: 484 278 4641
Cell: 415 336 9279Janette@KidsAndCars.orgwww.KidsAndCars.org

Check out some of our accomplishments in 2015:  http://conta.cc/24deY6W

‘Like’ us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KidsAndCars.org 
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/KidsAndCars
Sign-up for our newsletter: click here

Donate Now:  http://kidsandcars.org/donate.html

Lou Lombardo

____________________Lou Lombardowww.CareForCrashVictims.com

Celebrity Fatality Spurs Important Recall Questions on NHTSA and Fiat Chrysler Again

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

An excellent article in the NY Times reports:

Photo

The interior of a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Problems with the car involve an electronic gearshift, whose operation is similar to that of a video-game joystick. Credit Joe Raedle/Getty Images

“The death of the actor Anton Yelchin, killed when his Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled backward down a driveway and crushed him against a mailbox pillar last weekend, has cast a public spotlight on a problem with some models of Jeeps and other Fiat Chrysler vehicles.

But for the company, there is nothing new about the issue — which federal regulators first flagged last August.

The question is why, nearly a year later, Fiat Chrysler has still not come up with a fix for the problem, which has now been linked to hundreds of accidents, dozens of injuries and now — potentially — a well-publicized death.

The company, which issued a recall notice on more than one million affected vehicles in April, will say only it is still working on a solution, there was no decision about a recall until this year and there has been no delay. It has written to federal regulators that the remedy will include a software change and “an additional mechanism to mitigate the effect of operator error.”

That solution is expected no later than July or August, a Fiat Chrysler spokesman, Eric Mayne, said on Tuesday in an email.

And yet, as far back as March, Fiat Chrysler was telling federal investigators that it already had “potential solutions.”

The problem involves an electronic gearshift, whose operation is similar to that of a video-game joystick. It has confused many drivers, who thought they had left their cars in park, only to find they were in neutral, and started rolling away after the drivers stepped out.

Rollaway accidents are particularly dangerous, and the investigation and recall are taking too long, Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a consumer advocacy group, said on Tuesday.

“There was no sense of urgency on Chrysler’s part or N.H.T.S.A.’s part given the potential for death or injury,” he said in an interview, referring to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.”  See http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/22/business/anton-yelchins-death-highlights-a-known-issue-with-jeeps.html

The cozy connections of NHTSA and Fiat Chrysler continue to raise questions about the effectiveness of NHTSA in protecting people.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/2015-03-05JamesButlertoSarahSorgatNHTSAOfficeofCounselredepoofStrickland.pdfhttps://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-casjeepjudgement.phpLou

____________________Lou Lombardowww.CareForCrashVictims.com

Backstory on Trump Washington Post Investigation Hispanic Judge The Law of Disclosure

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Here is an explanation of the law relied on by Judge Gonzalo Curiel.

Washington Post Investigates

“Two class action lawsuits being considered in San Diego have accused Trump University of using deceptive practices as it brought in millions of dollars from customers who were told they would learn Trump’s techniques to become successful in the world of real estate. Trump and his attorneys have vigorously denied the fraud claims, pointing to high ratings that students gave their courses at the time.

The Post intervened in April, arguing that Trump’s pursuit of the presidency made his business dealings a matter of public interest and that an inactive company had no compelling reason to maintain secrecy.” 

See https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/judge-orders-release-of-internal-trump-university-documents/2016/05/28/2e960e5e-24f9-11e6-8690-f14ca9de2972_story.html

Center for Auto Safety (CAS)

At my request, Clarence Ditlow, Executive Director, Center for Auto Safety, prepared the following explanation of the new law requiring disclosure of legal documents.

CAS Chrysler Defects Case Changed the Law on Protective Orders in the 9th Circuit

The Decision Played a Key Role in Release of Trump University Documents

            In 2014, CAS moved to intervene and unseal documents in a class action in California on defective power modules in up to 4.9 million Chrysler vehicles to support a defect petition CAS had filed with NHTSA.  When the District Court denied CAS’s motions to intervene and unseal the Chrysler defect documents, the Center appealed to the 9th Circuit for the following reasons:

            This appeal is from the denial of the Center for Auto Safety’s motion to intervene in Velasco v. Chrysler Group LLC—a lawsuit currently pending before the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California—for the limited purpose of unsealing court records and the denial of the Center’s motion to unseal those records.  The Center for Auto Safety, a national nonprofit automobile safety organization, believes that the records—briefs, declarations, and exhibits submitted in connection with the Velasco plaintiffs’ preliminary injunction motion—may shed light on whether there is a dangerous defect in the power system installed in millions of Chrysler vehicles. 

                Although this Court has held that “compelling reasons” are normally required to outweigh the public’s right of access to court records, see Kamakana v.City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006), the district court held that the records filed in connection with the Velasco plaintiffs’ preliminary injunction motion could be sealed for “good cause.”

 

In January 2016 CAS won in the 9th Circuit with the court holding that “good cause” was not enough to seal documents in pleadings that were not necessarily dispositive. The decision played a key role in Judge Gonzalo Curiel’s attached order against Donald Trump to release Trump University documents.  Our 2016 victory in a Chrysler defects case moved the bar up from merely having to show “good cause” to seal a document to having to articulate “compelling reasons” to seal a document in many non-dispositive pleadings which are “more than tangentially related to the merits of a case.”  Previously in the Trump University lawsuits, the courts had used the lower threshold “good cause” standard to seal some documents.  In issuing his decision unsealing the Trump University documents, Judge Curiel explained the law had changed after Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp.

Traditionally, the Ninth Circuit drew a distinction between “dispositive” pleadings, such as motions for summary judgment and related attachments, where the strong presumption of access was applied fully, and a party must articulate “compelling reasons” to seal a document, and “non-dispositive” motions, where a “good cause” standard applied. Id. at 1180. In Kamakana, the Ninth Circuit explained that it did so because “the resolution of a dispute on the merits, whether by trial or summary judgment, is at the heart of the interest in ensuring the public’s understanding of the judicial process and of significant public events,” whereas “the public has less of a need for access to court records attached only to non-dispositive motions because those documents are often unrelated, or only tangentially related, to the underlying cause of action.” Id. at 1179 (citations omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted).

                However, in Center for Auto Safety, the Ninth Circuit recently disapproved of such a “binary” approach based on “mechanical classifications,” reasoning that “[m]ost litigation in a case is not literally ‘dispositive,’ but nevertheless involves important issues and information to which our case law demands the public should have access.” Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1098 (9th Cir. 2016).

                The Post argues that under Center for Auto Safety, the “compelling reasons” standard should apply because a class certification motion is “more than tangentially related to the merits of a case,” WP Mot. 8–11, while Defendant contends that the “good cause” standard should apply. Def. Opp. 5–8.

                Recently, two district courts in this Circuit cited Center for Auto Safety in applying the “compelling reasons” standard to class certification motions. See Opperman v. Path, Inc., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17222 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 11, 2016) (finding that a class certification motion involves issues that are “more than tangentially related to the merits of the case”); Corvello v. Wells Fargo Bank N.A., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11647 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 29, 2016). The Court agrees.

But for the Center’s lawsuit, key documents in the Trump University litigation would not have been released.  Below are relevant documents from the litigation including Chrysler’s latest effort to get the US Supreme Court to grant certiorari and hear the case.

The Center is represented in this litigation by Jennifer Bennett and Leslie Bailey of Public Justice, P.C. in Oakland CA, (510) 622-8150.

#               #               #

CLASS ACTION – CAS INTERVENTION TO RELEASE DEFECTS DOCUMENTS

Chrysler Petition for Certiorari to U.S. Supreme Court – 3/24/2016

          Amicus Brief DRI-Voice of the Defense Bar iso Chrysler Cert Petition – 4/28/16

          Amicus Brief Global Automakers & Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers iso Chrysler Cert Petition – 4/28/16

Amicus Brief Chamber of Commerce iso Chrysler Cert Petition – 4/28/16

Amicus Brief Washington Legal Foundation iso Chrysler Cert Petition – 4/28/16

9th Circuit Rules in Favor of CAS in Velasco v. Chrysler – 1/11/16

CAS Reply Brief 9th Cir – 5/14/15

Chrysler Response Brief 9th Cir – 4/30/15

CAS Opening Brief 9th Cir – 3/15/15

Reply in Support of Motion to Intervene – 11/17/14

Reply in Support of Motion to Unseal – 11/17/14

Memorandum in Support of Motion to Intervene – 10/23/14

Declaration of Clarence Ditlow in Support of Motion to Intervene of the Center for Auto Safety – 10/23/14

Memorandum in Support of Motion to Unseal – 10/23/14

Significance of Secrecy in Safety, Justice, and Democracy

This backstory of the law requiring openness of legal documents is of great importance to the public’s safety with vehicular violence resulting in nearly one hundred deaths, 400 serious injuries, and valued by DOT at $2 billion each average day in the U.S.A. today.This backstory of the law requiring openness of legal documents is of great importance to Justice when corporations and government officials spend unlimited monies to protect profits and power rather than people, Justice is denied.This backstory of the law requiring openness of legal documents is of great importance to Democracy when presidents and presidential candidates use secrecy to hide their actions – remember the Watergate example.  Disclosure: As a whistleblower fired during the Nixon Administration, I can attest to the importance of openness to Democracy.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/1970-PolutionControlEfforts.php
Lou Lombardo

____________________Lou Lombardowww.CareForCrashVictims.com

Adding Visuals To Rulemaking Increasing Public Understanding and Influence

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The Karth family shares a Draft Law Review article that recognizes the importance of visuals in Rulemaking in increasing public influence.  See http://annaleahmary.com/2016/06/visual-rulemaking-law-review-article-and-deadly-underride-discussion-june-24-at-iihs/

The NY Times publishes an excellent article on the latest IIHS crash test visuals – such visuals have long influenced the advance of safety thanks to Dr. William Haddon, Ralph Nader, Joan Claybrook and many other safety leaders.  See   http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/24/automobiles/risks-higher-for-front-seat-passengers-in-some-suv-crashes-tests-show.html?mabReward=CTM&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&region=CColumn&module=Recommendation&src=rechp&WT.nav=RecEngine
Letting the public see what is happening to them is a good step forward in advancing safety.

Lou

____________________Lou Lombardowww.CareForCrashVictims.com