Fiat Chrysler: Money v. People’s Lives

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The Seattle Times reports on the latest efforts of Fiat Chrysler to thwart justice in the courts.
“ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — After a family was awarded $40 million in the death of a 4-year-old boy in a Jeep fire, Fiat Chrysler on Tuesday asked the Georgia Supreme Court for a new trial or for the award to be reduced.

Remington “Remi” Walden died in 2012 after a Jeep Grand Cherokee he was riding in was hit from behind and burst into flames. The gas tank was mounted behind the rear axle, leaving it vulnerable in a crash.

The boy’s parents sued, arguing that the rear-mounted fuel tank in the 1999-model vehicle amounted to reckless disregard for human life by the manufacturer….

At least 75 people have died in post-crash fires involving several Jeep models with rear-mounted gas tanks. The problem led to the recall of 1.56 million Grand Cherokees and Libertys to install trailer hitches to protect the tanks in low-speed crashes.

Fiat Chrysler in 2015 agreed in a deal with government safety regulators to offer $100 gift cards to entice owners of recalled Jeeps to get the trailer hitch installation.”

 See https://www.seattletimes.com/business/fiat-chrysler-asks-for-new-trial-after-40m-jeep-fire-award/

Also see more on tragic history of this continuing saga of money v. people at

https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog/blog-casjeepjudgement/




Lou Lombardo

Nader on Trump Republican Appointments & Policies

Dear Fellow Americans:

We are at a terrifying point in history clearly described by Nader in a NY Times Op Ed today.

Corporate supremacy is at work destroying health and safety programs that will cause many deaths and injuries to Americans.

See Nader’s warning to Americans at 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/23/opinion/ralph-nader-trump-consumers.html

Please spread the warning.

Lou Lombardo

The American Dream – Sold Out

Dear Care For Crash Victims Community Members:
 
I came to Washington, DC in 1966 with high hopes of doing something about controlling air pollution and joined the U.S. Public Health Service, Division of Air Pollution.
 
Landmarks in automotive air pollution control that I was privileged to work on are at https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/1970s-polution-control-efforts/
 

Beginning in the late 1970s I worked on auto safety at NHTSA (with one year at IIHS) with hopes of reducing deaths and serious injuries sustained in crashes.

 
Looking back over the past 50 years one can see both progress and the urgent need to continue making progress in reducing vehicle violence from all causes.
 
*  Lead is now out of gasoline and no longer causing lead poisoning in children.
 
*  Vehicles now have catalysts and emissions of automotive pollutants have been reduced – but not nearly enough to protect public health and stop climate change.
 
Air pollution: 50 Years Later
 
An MIT study of early deaths due to all air pollutants and due to just automotive pollutants found:
“The group tracked ground-level emissions from sources such as industrial smokestacks, vehicle tailpipes, marine and rail operations, and commercial and residential heating throughout the United States, and found that such air pollution causes about 200,000 early deaths each year. Emissions from road transportation are the most significant contributor, causing 53,000 premature deaths, followed closely by power generation, with 52,000.”  See
 
Climate Change & Governmental Changing For The Worse – How Did This Happen?
 
Legal Reader has kindly published (pro bono) an article of mine on how, over the past 50 years, the American people have become victims of corporate supremacists.

Nader, Chomsky and others have tried to inform and warn people over the past 50 years with limited resources, but the corporate media has not.  Now it may be too little, too late, for too many people – but we must try.  (See Requiem for the American Dream video)

 
I have created Trump Death Clocks to help people see about how many American people are dying from air pollution under the Trump Administration.  Not included are deaths from climate change contributions such as hurricanes and wildfires.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/trump-clocks/
Lou Lombardo

Nobels vs. Nobles

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

‘Tis the 2017 season for Nobel prizes being announced.

A list of all recipients of the Nobel prizes is at https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/all/

It is also time to wonder why Ralph Nader has still not been named.  Who has contributed more to humankind to earn a Nobel prize – at least in literature?

See his bio in Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader

Imagine a citizen effort to create a “Noble” prize to recognize contributors to the betterment of humankind.

Do we humans not need to create such a prize?  We face global threats of climate change, income inequality, and injustice.

Think about it as you listen to the “Procession of the Nobles”:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBdKlNsuPd4
Lou Lombardo