GM Crash Victim Earns First Clarence M. Ditlow III Safety Champion Award from Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety

GM Crash Victim Earns First Clarence M. Ditlow III Safety Champion Award from Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Christopher Jensen of Forbes reports:

“A woman who lobbied for safety reforms after her daughter died in the crash of a Chevrolet Cobalt with the ignition-switch defect is being honored with the first Clarence M. Ditlow III Safety Champion Award.

“Laura Christian exemplifies the stalwart commitment to consumer protection and vehicle safety that characterized Clarence’s life,” said Joan Claybrook, the co-chair of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, which announced the award this morning.

Ditlow, who died in November, was the executive director of The Center for Auto Safety for four decades. He served on the Advocates’ board of directors for 27 years.

He was generally regarded as the nation’s foremost advocate and expert on automotive safety, consumer rights and the workings of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.”  See http://www.forbes.com/sites/jensen/2017/01/31/mother-who-became-activist-after-child-died-in-crash-honored-as-safety-champion/#6b3462013b7a

GM Recall Survivors

For an excellent information resource created and maintained by Laura Christian see https://www.facebook.com/gmrecall.survivors/posts/

Lou Lombardo

The Car Book 2017

The Car Book 2017

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

This year, the 37th Edition, is out.  This edition has a wonderful tribute by author Jack Gillis to the life saving work of Clarence Ditlow.

 

Jack notes how he and Clarence worked together to continue publishing The Car Book after the Reagan Administration stopped its publication by NHTSA.

 

Included is a Tribute from Ralph Nader to Clarence on p. 53. noting that his work and the Center’s has contributed to the saving of an estimated 330,000 lives over the past 40 years.
 

Michael Brooks, current Acting Director of the Center for Auto Safety notes in an excellent Preface that when the 1966 Motor Vehicle and Traffic Safety Acts became law the fatality rate in the U.S. was nearly 26 fatalities per hundred thousand population.  Today it is about 10 fatalities per hundred thousand population.  Had the earlier rate continued 83,000 lives would have been lost in 2014 instead of the expected 38,700 expected in 2016.

The daily losses are still a massive national tragedy:

 

*  more than 100 deaths per day
*  400 serious injuries per day
*  $2 Billion in costs per day as valued by NHTSA
 

What I like most about the handy Car Book is that in addition to the one page summary ratings of each model vehicle, there is reliable auto buying advice.  Useful information on insurance, tires, warranties, reliability, maintenance, and safety options all in one place.  I keep it in my trunk with all auto repair bills.

 

The Car Book information helps people make wise choices on one of the most expensive and dangerous consumer products.

 

The Center for Auto Safety web site will have a link to purchase the Car Book up next week.  See www.autosafety.org

 

Please buy it, be safe, write about it, and help us all be safer.

 

Lou Lombardo

Used and Unsafe Vehicles For Sale – Along With Too Many Public Officials


Used and Unsafe Vehicles For Sale – Along With Too Many Public Officials

January, 2017

Dear Care For Crash Victims Community Members:

People who can’t afford to buy new cars recently voted for change.  The result is an election that put Republicans in political control of the White House and both Houses of Congress.

Both the Democrat and Republican parties and the media have let the public down for decades in the area of auto safety.   See http://www.fairwarning.org/2012/09/a-strange-indifference-to-highway-carnage/

Now Michael R. Lemov has written an article on the life or death problems of sale of used cars that have been recalled but not fixed thanks to legal loopholes in existence for 50 years.  See http://www.thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/315350-buying-that-new-used-car-congress-must-put-safety-first

Now as we approach the 4 Millionth death in America due to vehicle violence we find we are largely on our own.
Consumer Reports offers a Used Car Buying Guide to help Americans buy wisely and safely.  See  http://www.consumerreports.org/cars-used-cars/?loginMethod=auto

Most people and politicians do not know that more people by far die of vehicle violence injuries in Red States than in Blue States.  There is in reality a huge need and justification for bi-partisan support for safety measures to protect people in all States.
As Ralph Nader wrote about the power of fairness and common sense that most people share in Unstoppable:
“Campaigning for President in 1980 in Michigan, he (Reagan) attacked the proposed air bag standard as restricting our freedom.  I sort of agreed with him.  Upon being asked for comment by a Detroit reporter, I said, “Yes, the air bag does restrict the driver’s and passenger’s freedom to go through the windshield in a crash.” (p.40)
We the people must demand safety from both parties.  President Trump in his inauguration address said “We will make America safe again.”  It is the American people’s job to hold him accountable such that his deeds match his words.  See http://www.npr.org/2017/01/20/510629447/watch-live-president-trumps-inauguration-ceremony
Lou Lombardo

 

Truck Safety Coalition Compares Safety Progress in EU vs. U.S. Decline since 2009


Truck Safety Coalition Compares Safety Progress in EU vs. U.S. Decline since 2009

January, 2017

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Safety record in truck tragedies increase of 15% in U.S. is compared with E.U. progress in reduced truck tragedies of 23%. See attached graphic.

 

Power To Protect People: The American Legal System – Under Attack


Power To Protect People: The American Legal System – Under Attack

January, 2017

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

First, watch Nader Interview at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll3jtTJLRcA

Second, read “The Truth About Torts” and all the ways our paths to health, safety, happiness, and justice are under attack at http://www.progressivereform.org/torts.cfm

Third, see article on our legal rights to protect our safety and happiness and a graphic of Lady Justice struggling under the burden of Big Bucks published by Legal Reader at http://www.legalreader.com/power-of-people-to-protect-people/

The Lady Justice graphic is available for reproduction free with attribution to Legal Reader.

Lou Lombardo

 

Powers of People to Protect People – District Attorneys, Grand Juries, & Media


Powers of People to Protect People – District Attorneys, Grand Juries, & Media

January, 2017

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The NY Times Editorial Board concludes: “The Long Island crash shows that federal safety loopholes need to be closed, while New York State needs to create stronger inspection and safety standards of its own. Without them, the Suffolk grand jury warned, another tragedy is bound to happen.” See http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/opinion/the-dangerous-lure-of-stretch-limos.html

The County Grand Jury found: “The deaths and injuries were  entirely preventable, caused by driver failure, improper limousine construction, and inadequate regulatory oversight.”  See http://www.suffolkcountyny.gov/Portals/da/PDFs/GJ%20reports/Special%20Grand%20Jury%20Limo%20Crash%202015.pdf

We need more Grand Jury investigations of crashes, injuries and consequences to achieve safety for all of us.

Lou Lombardo