Vehicle Violence: Motorcycles Damaging Our Health

Dear Care For Crash Victims Community Members:

A release with documentation from the Center for Auto Safety cautions us all about the Harley- Davidson air pollution case.

Cheating is a way of life in the auto industry so why trust them with our lives?

 

http://www.autosafety.org/harley-davidson-clean-air-act-settlement/

 

https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/harley-davidson-clean-air-act-settlement

 

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-08/documents/harleydavidson-cd.pdf

 

Clarence Ditlow

Executive Director

Center for Auto Safety

1825 Connecticut Ave NW #330

Washington DC 20009

Another way in which we suffer from vehicle violence.
Lou

____________________Lou Lombardowww.CareForCrashVictims.com

Senators Blumenthal and Markey Release on Continuing Takata Ammonium Nitrate Tragedies

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Their Press Release below shows how they have repeatedly warned us all.   The tragedies continue and the Administration and the rest of Congress fails again and again to protect us all.  Why does our government leave us all in continuous danger?

cid:image002.png@01D08CC6.9E16EC20

For Immediate Release

Contact: Maria McElwain (Blumenthal)

(202) 224-6452

Giselle Barry (Markey)

(202) 224-2742

August 31, 2016

BLUMENTHAL & MARKEY CALL FOR FEDERAL INVESTIGATION OF TAKATA TRUCK EXPLOSION

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Today, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) called on the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to investigate the explosion and crash of a truck carrying Takata airbag parts, including ammonium nitrate. This compound, which is also used in agricultural fertilizers and as an explosive in construction and mining industries, can explode violently if it comes into contact with an open flame or other ignition sources. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has also confirmed that ammonium nitrate is the root cause of the Takata airbag defect that has led to the largest recall in U.S. automotive history because of its tendency to become unstable when exposed to moisture. The detonation, which took place near Quemado, Texas, killed one and injured four others.

“We already know Takata has endangered millions behind the wheel – the recent tragedy in Texas raises questions about how many millions more are in harm’s way because of Takata’s practices transporting its hazardous product,” the Senators said. “Takata has a terrible track record of cutting corners to put profits before safety, creating tragic consequences for drivers and families, and then lying to federal regulators. The National Transportation Safety Board must investigate this incident and determine whether this company took appropriate precautions, or if it is just one more example of its reckless behavior.  We also seek answers on what steps must be taken to ensure other towns and communities aren’t endangered by the shipment of ammonium nitrate on our highways. The independent expertise of the NTSB is uniquely tasked with looking at these wide-ranging problems, and we urge the agency to take immediate action.”

 

The Senators first expressed concerns with NHTSA’s limited recalls and testing of Takata airbags in October 2014,  first called on Takata to recall all vehicles with ammonium nitrate-based airbags in August 2015, and subsequently also expressed ‎serious concern about the pace of Takata recalls and repairs.

In February of this year, Blumenthal and Markey sent a letter urging President Obama to recall every vehicle with airbags using ammonium nitrate as their propellant, and to use “every tool at his disposal” to accelerate the repair of all vehicles with potentially-lethal Takata airbags. In May, the Senators asked NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind to make publicly available the make, model, and year of all vehicles that contain Takata airbags that use an ammonium nitrate propellant. In July, they called on Honda to immediately issue a “do not drive” order to owners vehicles with these dangerous air bags.

Why does this danger – and other dangers of vehicle violence – continue?
Lou Lombardo

National Safety Council Releases Statistics on Increasing Deaths and Deadly “National Complacency”

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The National Safety Council has released shocking new numbers for vehicle violence.

Motor Vehicle Fatalities Up 9%; No Sign of a Decrease in 2016, says National Safety Council

If trend continues, U.S. may see its deadliest driving year since 2007 and deadliest Labor Day since 2008.

​ Itasca, IL – Preliminary estimates from the National Safety Council indicate motor vehicle deaths were 9% higher through the first six months of 2016 than in 2015, and 18% higher than two years ago at the six month mark. An estimated 19,100 people have been killed on U.S. roads since January – enough to fill 382 school buses[i] – and 2.2 million were seriously injured[ii]. The total estimated cost of these deaths and injuries is $205 billion.

The upward trend began in late 2014 and shows no signs of decreasing. Last winter, the National Safety Council issued its largest year-over-year percentage increase in 50 years, when it estimated fatalities had jumped 8% in 2015 compared to 2014. The continued rise in fatalities is prompting the Council to issue its highest fatality estimate for the Labor Day holiday period since 2008. NSC estimates 438 people will be killed during the three-day holiday weekend.[iii]

“Our complacency is killing us,” said Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council. “One hundred deaths every day should outrage us. Americans should demand change to prioritize safety actions and protect ourselves from one of the leading causes of preventable death.” I have added bold for emphasis of this important statement.

Source:

NY Times Op Ed: “The Real Crime Is What’s Not Done”

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Here’s an Op Ed that the NY Times has published that is germane to the plight of crash victims – past, present, and future.

It concludes:

“The injustice of the Flint contamination and other safety disasters demand a meaningful response. Criminal law is not the right tool for the job.”
I do not agree with that conclusion!  Criminal law is the most underutilized tool in democracy’s tool box.  The NY Times did not even allow its readers to comment.
Our community needs to address this Op Ed.  Otherwise the deaths and injuries of all victims will continue without end.
Lou

____________________Lou Lombardowww.CareForCrashVictims.com

NHTSA Counts Additional Vehicle Violence Deaths Occurring At Rate of 5 per Day Off Public Roads

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

New NHTSA data released on Non-Traffic “off the public traffic ways.”   These statistics are in addition to the NHTSA counts of deaths along public roads of more than 90 deaths per day on average.  New Non-Traffic Statistics:  Deaths average about 5 per day.  Injuries average about 250 per day.

Crash*Stats “Non-Traffic Surveillance: Fatality and Injury Statistics in Non-Traffic Crashes, 2012 to 2014” (DOT HS 812 311):   Non-traffic motor vehicle crashes are a class of crashes that occur off the public traffic ways.  These crashes are mostly single-vehicle crashes on private roads, two-vehicle crashes in parking facilities, or collisions with pedestrians in driveways. This publication focuses only on non-traffic crashes and presents some salient statistics about occupants and nonoccupants killed and injured in such crashes from 2012 to 2014. An average of 1,898 people were killed each year in non-traffic motor vehicle crashes during the 3-year period 2012 to 2014. About a third (34%) of those people killed were nonoccupants such as pedestrians and bicyclists. Additionally, 92,000 people were injured in these crashes each year, of which a third (33%) were nonoccupants.These statistics are in addition to the NHTSA counts of deaths along public roads of more than 90 deaths per day on average.  See https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812240
People concerned with crash deaths and injuries wonder why presidential candidates are not mentioning vehicle violence but do mention gun violence.  Both deserve national solutions.
Lou

____________________Lou Lombardowww.CareForCrashVictims.com

NHTSA Counts 2015 Fatalities: 7.2% increase to 35,092 American Deaths

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

NHTSA notes “The last single-year increase of this magnitude was in 1966, when fatalities rose 8.1% from the previous year.”

And “In response to the increase, DOT, NHTSA, and the White House are issuing an unprecedented call to action to involve a wide range of stakeholders in helping determine the causes of the increase.”  

See http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/traffic-fatalities-2015

President Obama in his final months in office should carefully consider his legacy of the nearly 250,000 American deaths and nearly 1 million serious injuries due to vehicle violence – all while he has been President.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/MonthlyReportforJanuary2016-Corrected.pdf

Lou Lombardo

____________________Lou Lombardowww.CareForCrashVictims.com

NBC Gets NHTSA to Investigate Hollywood “Topless” Tour Bus 15 Passenger Vans

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

NBC has moved NHTSA to investigate an obvious safety problem.

“The federal government is now investigating one of the most famous tours in the world because of an NBC4 investigation. The I-Team series documented potential safety hazards of Hollywood tour buses, including showing how some seatbelts have been modified or removed altogether. The series also looked at how the buses have been customized so that they are “topless,” leading experts and officials to question their ability to protect passengers in the event of an accident.

The United States Department of Transportation has mailed certified letters to more than two dozen tour bus companies stating it believes the convertible tour buses lining Hollywood Boulevard are not safe and should not be taking passengers anywhere.”

Lou Lombardo

____________________Lou Lombardowww.CareForCrashVictims.com