About Louis

Louis V. Lombardo: A Life of Conscience — Fighting for Clean Air, Safe Cars, and Public Accountability

Early Public Service and the Fight for Clean Air

In 1966, as America’s skies grew heavy with smog and the dangers of air pollution became undeniable, Louis V. Lombardo began his public service career at the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS). He joined a small but determined group of scientists and engineers working to confront one of the nation’s most urgent public health threats—pollution from automobiles.

The Clean Air Act of 1963 had laid the groundwork for federal action, but it was the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970 that transformed air pollution control into a cornerstone of environmental law. These amendments, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, required automobile manufacturers to reduce tailpipe emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides by 90% within just a few years.

Lombardo’s work at the PHS and later at the newly created Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) placed him directly in the center of this national transformation. His focus: ensuring that auto emissions testing was scientifically valid, transparent, and enforced in accordance with the law.

Whistleblowing During the Nixon Administration

As the EPA began implementing the Clean Air Act, Lombardo discovered illegal alterations to automobile emissions test procedures. These changes—made under political pressure from the auto industry—had the effect of weakening emissions standards and allowing noncompliant vehicles to pass certification.

Such tampering violated both the letter and spirit of the Clean Air Act and threatened to erase years of progress toward cleaner air. When Lombardo raised objections internally, he faced retaliation. Refusing to compromise his integrity, he blew the whistle, reporting that officials within the administration were undermining lawful environmental protections.

In the early 1970s, the Nixon Administration—increasingly hostile toward regulators it viewed as obstacles to industrial interests—fired Lombardo for his whistleblowing. His dismissal became one of the earliest and clearest examples of political retaliation against an environmental scientist working to uphold the Clean Air Act.

At the time, the Whistleblower Protection Act did not yet exist (it would not be enacted until 1989), leaving Lombardo without legal recourse. Nevertheless, his moral stance helped set a precedent for future generations of public servants who would risk their careers to defend scientific integrity and the public’s right to clean air.

Contributions to Humanity: Clean Air and Safer Cars

Louis Lombardo’s work contributed to two of the most consequential public health advances in modern history:
(1) Removing lead from gasoline, and (2) Requiring airbags in all vehicles.

1. Removing Lead from Gasoline

When Lombardo began his air pollution control work, nearly all gasoline sold in the United States contained tetraethyl lead, a toxic additive used to boost engine performance. Lead exposure—especially in children—was linked to brain damage, learning disabilities, and cardiovascular disease.

Starting in 1973, under the Clean Air Act, the EPA began phasing out leaded gasoline. This initiative, informed by decades of research and early enforcement efforts like those Lombardo helped shape, became one of the greatest public health victories of the 20th century.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and EPA, the removal of lead from gasoline is estimated to have raised the average IQ of American children by 2–5 points, reduced heart disease deaths, and prevented hundreds of thousands of premature deaths worldwide.
(References: EPA 2016 “Benefits and Costs of the Clean Air Act,” CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2007)

2. Getting Airbags into All Cars

Lombardo’s later advocacy in vehicle safety helped drive another monumental change: the universal installation of airbags in all passenger vehicles. Long resisted by auto manufacturers, airbags became mandatory in the United States under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, following years of scientific studies, public pressure, and advocacy from safety experts like Lombardo.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), airbags have saved over 50,000 lives in the United States since their introduction and have prevented hundreds of thousands of serious injuries.
(References: NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts 2022; NHTSA Office of Vehicle Safety Research)

Through his writing and advocacy, particularly via Care for Crash Victims, Lombardo emphasized the moral dimension of safety policy—insisting that behind every data point is a human life that could be saved.

Care for Crash Victims: Bearing Witness and Inspiring Change

In the decades following his whistleblowing ordeal, Lombardo founded **Care for Crash Victims (www.CareForCrashVictims.com)**—a website and advocacy project dedicated to documenting the human toll of vehicle crashes in America.

Each year, more than 40,000 Americans die in traffic crashes, and millions are injured. Lombardo’s project seeks to humanize those statistics, amplify victims’ voices, and demand systemic reforms to prevent future tragedies.

The site combines government crash data, personal stories, and historical analysis to hold policymakers, automakers, and regulators accountable. It has become a resource for journalists, researchers, and families seeking justice and reform.

Legacy: Courage, Conscience, and the Public Good

Louis V. Lombardo’s life story is a profound example of ethical courage in public service. Long before “whistleblower” became a protected legal status, he risked everything to expose corruption and defend the public’s right to health and truth.

His legacy continues in every clean breath taken by children free from lead exposure, and in every life saved by a deployed airbag. His unwavering commitment reminds us that government, when guided by conscience, can be humanity’s most powerful tool for good.

As Lombardo himself often reflects, the true measure of public service is not obedience to power, but loyalty to humanity.

Selected References

  1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Benefits and Costs of the Clean Air Act, 1970 to 1990. EPA Report to Congress, 1997.

  2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Blood Lead Levels in the United States, 1960–2002. MMWR, 2007.

  3. U.S. EPA. History of the Clean Air Act. EPA.gov, updated 2023.

  4. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Traffic Safety Facts 2022: Air Bags. DOT HS 813 438.

  5. Lombardo, Louis V. Care for Crash Victims. www.CareForCrashVictims.com (2004–present).

  6. Senate Committee on Public Works, Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970: Legislative History.

Work History Highlights

Principal, Louis V. Lombardo, LLC

Auto Safety Researcher, Advocate, and Publisher of Care For Crash Victims Reports.

Purpose:

End Vehicle Violence. We currently are at a time when we have more safety technologies available than ever before in the history of humankind. We now have the ability to achieve zero deaths and serious injuries in, or by, new vehicles in a decade. And we are:

  • About to record our 4 millionth death due to vehicle violence in the U.S.A.
  • Losing 100 Americans to vehicle violence every average day in the US.A.
  • Experiencing 400 Americans suffering serious vehicle injuries per day,
  • Paying losses valued by NHTSA at $2 Billion per day in the U.S.A.

We need to build the political will to end vehicle violence in America. We can set a national Vision Zero Goal. In a decade we can put humans on the road and bring them back alive by ending vehicle violence – always, forevermore, for everyone.

Work:

Research, consult, write, and publish Monthly Reports and Daily Blog (2013 – 2016) on needs and measures for auto safety to prevent vehicle violence. Available at https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/monthly-reports/

Highlights:

1978 – 2007

Physical Scientist, (Retired from NHTSA January, 2007)

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

Office of Advanced Safety Research,

Intelligent Technologies Research Division,

Last Position: Program Manager,

Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance System (CICAS-V)

Note: All results cited herein were not solely my doing, but were possible only with the support of my wife, Rita, and many contributions of others in government, industry, academe, the public interest community and the media.

Results: This work made clear the need and feasibility for a more comprehensive analysis of Fatal Intersection Crashes. As a result, NHTSA, NCSA began to work on the intersection safety problem and developed the Geocoded Intersection Safety Analysis Tool (GISAT) that provided aerial images (where available from Google Earth and Local Live) for each of ~30,000 geocoded fatal intersection crash locations for the years 2001-2004. This then became a subset of the Highway Infrastructure Safety Analysis Tool (HISAT) that adds the aerial images of all roadway locations, as available, for each of ~130,000 geocoded fatal crash locations in FARS 2001 – 2004. These tools permit a wide variety of safety analyses to be performed by safety researchers in the future.

  • Co-author of Presentation “Using Ortho-imagery in the Analysis and Identification of Intersections with Multiple Fatal Crashes,” 2006 Annual Traffic Records Forum, Aug 3, 2006
  • Co-Author of “Assessment of Air Medical Coverage Using the Atlas and Database of Air Medical Services and Correlations With Reduced Highway Fatality Rates”, Air Medical Journal, July-August, 2005, Available at https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/amj-paper-4.pdf
  • National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, Reports “Hospital-Based Emergency Care: At the Breaking Point” and “Emergency Medical Services: At the Crossroads” (published June 2006) cited our coauthored works on Automatic Crash Notification, URGENCY software, and Air Medical Services See http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11621.html and http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11629.html#toc
  • Presenter at 2006 SAE Government/Industry Conference “Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance System (CICAS-V) to Avoid Violations at Stop Signs & Signals.”
  • Acknowledged for my contributions to the 1st through 13th editions of the Atlas & Database of Air Medical Services (ADAMS) available at http://www.adamsairmed.org/pubs/ADAMS_Intro.pdf
  • Co-editor, NHTSA CIREN Report: “Consequences and Costs of Lower-Extremity Injuries,” DOT HS 809 871, June 2005
  • Co-author of “Assessment of Air Medical Coverage Using the Atlas and Database of Air medical Services (ADAMS) With Correlations with Reduced Highway Fatality Rates”, Air Medical Journal, July-August, 2005. https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/amj-paper-4.pdf
  • Co-author “New Tools to Reduce Deaths and Disabilities by Improving Emergency Care: URGENCY Software, Occult Injury Warnings, and Air Medical Services Database” NHTSA ESV Proceedings, 2005, DOT HS 809 825. See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/2005-urgency.pdf

Results: This paper, published by NHTSA, described our research findings that the Nation needed a “Reduction in Average Times for Scene Arrival in Rural Fatal Crashes of 8 minutes” to meet a medical benchmark of providing EMS care within 10 minutes of the crash. The Congress subsequently enacted SAFETEA-LU, signed into law (P.L. 109-59) on August 10, 2005, that provides for research and development on:

“Sec. 5306. (b) (3) (C)(i) improving incident management response, particularly in rural areas, so that rural emergency response times are reduced by an average of 10 minutes; and

(ii) improving communication between emergency care providers and trauma centers;”

In January 2009 BMW became the first automaker to use URGENCY software to improve care for crash victims. See following info:

From BMW: A video description of the new BMW system and information on its potential is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A30fi8-muk4

Results: Subsequently these analyses resulted in a study by the National Academy of Sciences that recommended multi-million dollar multi-year funding of FHWA programs on weather and safety. See http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/weather/mitigating_impacts/programs.htm and http://www.its.dot.gov/clarus/index.htm

  • Administered $15 million grant for the establishment of the Center for Transportation Injury Research (CenTIR) at the Calspan-University at Buffalo Research Center for multidisciplinary safety research, 1998-2006.

Results: numerous safety research products and papers on care of crash victims.

Results:

The Congress, based in part on this research, in October 1999 enacted the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act specifying 9-1-1 to be the “universal emergency telephone number” and finding that “emerging technologies can be a critical component…to reduce emergency response times and provide appropriate care.” In 1999, the FCC also issued rules for Enhanced 9-1-1 service to automatically provide location information to emergency dispatchers.

  • Co-author of “Injury Patterns Among Air Bag Equipped Vehicles,” The XVI International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles. Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Paper no. 98-S1-O-06. June, 1998. See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/98S1O06.pdf
  • Contributor to “Relationships Between Crash Casualties and Crash Attributes” SAE 970393

Results:

This paper was the basis for the prototype of URGENCY software demonstrated and first presented to the NHTSA Administrator and NHTSA senior management on March 27, 1997. See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/MartinezBriefing3-27-97.pdf

  • Coauthor “Air Bag Induced Injury Mechanisms for Infants in Rear Facing Child Restraints”, SAE 973296
  • Co-author of “Heart Injuries Among Restrained Occupants in Frontal Crashes”, The Engineering Society for Advancing Mobility Land Sea Air and Space International (SAE) 1997 Technical Paper Series printed in Occupant Protection and Injury Assessment in the Automotive Crash Environment (SP-1231) SAE 970392, February, 1997.
  • Co-author of “Challenges in Injury Measurement Technology for Testing of Driver Air Bag Systems.”, The 15th ESV Conference. Melbourne, Australia. Paper no. 96-S10-O-02. May 15, 1996.
  • Co-author of “Injuries Sustained by Drivers in Air Bag Crashes.” The 15th ESV Conference. Melbourne, Australia. Paper no. 96-S10-O-01. May 15, 1996.
  • Co-author of “Injuries Sustained by Air Bag Protected Drivers.” (SAE) 1996 Technical Paper Series reprinted from Occupant Protection Technologies for Frontal Impact: Current Needs and Expectations for the 21st Century, (SP-1144) SAE 960660, February 1996.
  • Co-author of “Liver Injuries Associated with 2-Point Belt Restraints in Frontal Crashes”, Accident Analysis & Prevention, 39th Annual Proceedings of the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine, 1995.
  • Co-author of “Occult abdominal injuries to airbag-protected crash victims: a challenge to trauma systems”, J Trauma. 1995 Apr; 38(4):502-8.
  • Co-author of “Chest and Abdominal Injuries Suffered by Restrained Occupants.” The Engineering Society for Advancing Mobility Land Sea Air and Space International (SAE) 1995 Technical Paper Series reprinted from Advances in Occupant Protection Technologies for the Mid-Nineties (SP-1077) SAE 950657, February 1995.
  • Co-author of “Airbag Protected Crash Victims – The Challenge of Identifying Occult Injuries.” The Engineering Society for Advancing Mobility Land Sea Air and Space International (SAE) 1994 Technical Paper Series reprinted from In-Depth Accident Investigation: Trauma Team Findings in Late Model Vehicle Collisions (SP 1042) SAE 940714, February 1994.
  • Co-author of “Injuries Sustained by Air Bag Occupants in Frontal Crashes”, The 14th International Technical Conference on Enhanced Safety of Vehicles, Paper no. 94-S4-O-18, 1994.
  • Planned, organized, and directed, for the Secretary of Transportation, the national Transportation Technology Fair that enabled all DOT modal administrations to display their latest technologies on the National Mall, and to recognize the scientific and engineering contributions of DOT researchers, 1994.
  • Co-author of NHTSA Research Note: “Detection of Internal Injuries in Drivers protected by Air Bags”, 1993 and the subsequent SCENE Poster nationally distributed by NHTSA to the EMS community in 1994. See pp. 69-83 at https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/809564.pdf
  • Planned and administered $8.5 million grant to Jackson Memorial Hospital, for creation of the Ryder Trauma Center, establishment of the William Lehman Injury Research Center, and for research on injuries to restrained occupants in frontal crashes, 1991-1997.

Results:

This research was used by NHTSA as the model for the creation of the NHTSA Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN). CIREN is a multidisciplinary research program conducted at ten Level 1 trauma centers on crashes, injuries, treatments, and outcomes of serious injury crashes. See papers at “NHTSA Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network,” Annals of Emergency Medicine, October, 1996; 28:450-451 and at https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/CIREN3.pdf And https://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv16/98s6p21.pdf and https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/809564.pdf

1985 – 86

Director, Information Support, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)

Responsible for the planning, organization, and conduct of the Protect Company Car Drivers National Conference This conference of more than 200 executives brought prospective purchasers of automobile fleets to Washington to meet with safety experts and representatives of automobile manufacturers offering models with air bags.

Results:

Within 90 days of the Conference end, purchase orders totaled 3,000 air bag equipped 1986 model year vehicles. The Conference won the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) highest honor the Silver Anvil Award.

1978 – 85

Physical Scientist, Rulemaking, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

  • Prepared NHTSA briefing materials for Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole’s decision to reinstate regulations to require air bags.
  • Primary author and editor of the NHTSA Report titled Automobile Occupant Crash Protection, DOT HS 805 474, July 1980. See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/1980fullreport.pdf

Results:

The Supreme Court cited this NHTSA report in its decision that ultimately required automatic crash protection with air bags. See 463 U.S. 29, 103 S. Ct. 2856 (p.8). Subsequently, NHTSA published estimates that by 2014 an estimated 42,292 lives were saved by frontal air bags and a growing number of lives saved by side air bags (not yet estimated by NHTSA). See https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812262

  • Co-author of NHTSA Paper “Safety Consequences of the Shift to Small Cars in the 1980’s.” 1980
1972 – 1978

President, Public Interest Campaign

Conducted technical reviews of Federal programs in the fields of environmental public health protection, energy policy, and consumer protection. See:

Consumer Fuel

Disclosure Act of 1975, CIS-NO: 76-S261-23

SOURCE: Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Senate,

DOC-TYPE: Hearing,

DATE: Oct. 29, 1975,

LENGTH: iii+146 p. il., S

UDOC: Y4.C73/2:94-53, CIS/Index

Results:

Advocacy resulted in enactment of Title II – Octane Disclosure – of the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act (P.L. 95-297) requiring the posting of gasoline octane quality ratings on all gasoline pumps to reduce consumer octane overbuying. Octane overbuying in the 1970s was resulting, each day, in an economic waste of three million consumer dollars, energy waste of one million gallons of gasoline, and air pollution emissions of 400,000 pounds of lead.

  • Plaintiff in Lombardo v. Handler, 397 F. Supp. 792 (D.D.C. 1975), seeking decision requiring the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the Freedom of Information Act to disclose deliberations under the Clean Air Act. Also see testimony before Congress at:

Clean Air Act

Oversight, CIS-NO: 73-H501-5, SOURCE: Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. House, DOC-TYPE: Hearing, DATE: Nov.

20, 1971, Jan. 26-28, Sept. 28, 1972,

LENGTH: vii+555 p. il.,

SUDOC: Y4.In8/4:92-105, CIS/Index

Results:

NAS won ability to deny access sought, but instituted increased openness and balance provisions for all its future deliberations. Subsequently, years later, after the Nixon Tapes were released, the information I had been seeking became public. The Nixon tapes revealed conversations in the White House with Henry Ford II in 1971 that the emission tests were being rigged (I was right). The EPA, the Courts, and the NAS were wrong and the American people were forced to breathe air with higher pollution levels for decades. See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog/blog-cheatcircle/

  • Published newsletters titled Clean Air and Public Interest Reports 1972-1977 advocating lower emissions and lead free gasoline. Researched, and organized scientific and public support for more stringent regulations and requiring lead free gasoline (see “Get the Lead Out,” The Progressive, August 1974, pp. 35-38.) See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/1970-PolutionControlEfforts.php
  • Testified before Congress, the Federal Energy Administration, FTC, DOT, EPA, and HUD. See testimony before Congress at:

Inner City (25mb) Environment and the Role of the Environmental Protection Agency,

CIS-NO: 72-S261-65,

SOURCE: Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Senate,

DOC-TYPE: Hearing,

DATE: Feb. 4, Apr. 7, May 8, 1972,

LENGTH: iv+340 p. il.,

SUDOC: Y4.C73/2:92-75, CIS/Index

Results:

In 1972, the definition of lead poisoning was a child blood lead level of 40 micrograms per deciliter (Now it is down to 10 mcg/dl). By 1990 automotive lead emissions were virtually eliminated, and by 2005, CDC found that:

“among children in the United States, between the ages of one and five years old, who are included in the sample, the proportion with blood lead levels above 10 micrograms per deciliter has dropped precipitously over the past several years, so that in this most recent exposure report, only 1.6 percent of children had elevated blood levels….this is an astonishing public health achievement and I think really speaks to the removal of lead from gasoline…” See https://www.cdc.gov/media/transcripts/t050721.htm

  • As spokesman for the National Clean Air Coalition, I held successful press conferences in 10 cities on a cross-country demonstration of a low emission/high fuel economy vehicle.
  • Successfully petitioned EPA Administrator Russell Train to appeal to I.R.S. Commissioner Alexander for issuance of a ruling on October 4, 1974 permitting public interest groups to utilize court awarded fees without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status. Petition and appeal granted.
  • Successfully fought for a restoration of an EPA budget ($400,000) for research on health effects of automotive lead emissions.
  • Successfully lobbied EPA to fund the National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on Motor Vehicle Emissions for the continuation of its assessment of the technological feasibility of meeting statutory auto emission standards under the Clean Air Act.
  • Successfully urged the American Public Health Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics to file comments with EPA endorsing stringent regulations limiting the lead content of gasoline.
  • Stimulated the City of New York to improve its ambient air lead measurement procedures.
  • Influenced New York City’s decision to deny an enforcement variance of its stringent gasoline lead regulations in 1973.
  • Built a case, along with others, for an EPA denial of suspension of the 1975 auto emission standards; successfully in 1972, unsuccessfully in 1973 and 1975.
1971-1972

Scientist at Center for Science in the Public Interest on auto emission control

Consultant to Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). This was on the nation’s first “citizen law suit” to require the EPA to tighten the 1975 motor vehicle emission standards.

1966/71

Physical Scientist, EPA and U.S. Public Health Service’s Air Pollution Control Program

  • Chairman of the EPA Task Force on the Environmental Problems of the Urban Poor Editor and author of EPA report entitled “Our Urban Environment and Our Most Endangered People” that resulted in Congressional Hearings by Sen. Philip Hart on lead in gasoline and other urban environmental problems. See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/1970-PolutionControlEfforts.php
  • Produced a series of internal memos on the regulation of lead in gasoline. These papers, commended by the Commissioner, established the public health need, and the technical and economic feasibility of eliminating lead from gasoline.
1970

In 1970, served as Technical Coordinator for the 1970 Clean Air Car Race. Designed and organized the emission testing program in Boston (MIT), Ann Arbor, and in Los Angeles (California Institute of Technology) for the cross-country race. Documented a student demonstration of low emission technology cited as the basis for the 1970 Clean Air Act requirement for low pollution vehicles by 1975.

1960s

In 1969, I identified and researched possible solutions to the problems of illegal importation of automobiles without emission controls. Resulted in 1970 amendment of the Clean Air Act closing a loophole in the prohibition of such importations.

In 1968, performed staff technical justification (demonstration of technical and economic feasibility) for the first tightening of Federal automobile emission standards promulgated in 1968 for applicability to 1970 and later model year vehicles.

In 1967, served as technical consultant for motor vehicle emission control to the Senate Public Works Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution during hearings on the 1967 Air Quality Act.

In 1967, served as Research Associate member of HEW Secretary John Gardner’s Task Force on Environmental Health Problems. Helped write the published report to the Secretary A Strategy for a Livable Environment.

EDUCATION

B.S. Physics, University of Hartford, 1965,

Graduate Studies in Public Administration, American University, 1970

MEMBERSHIPS

  • Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
  • Chair, Washington Section SAE, 1992/93
  • Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine
  • Association of Air Medical Services
  • Investigative Reporters & Editors
  • Society for Professional Journalists
  • Washington Automotive Press Association

AWARDS

  • 2007, received Public Service Award of the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) for my role in the development of the Atlas and Database of Air Medical Services (ADAMS).
  • 2004, Atlas & Database of Air Medical Services (ADAMS) Project recognized with 2 national awards by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) – the “Associations Advancing America” Award and the ASAE’s highest honor, the “Summit” Award.
  • 1994, received Secretary of Transportation’s Award of Appreciation for organizing and managing DOT’s TransFuture ’94 Technology Fair.
  • 1986, Accepted on behalf of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the National Safety Council, and the National Association of Governors’ Highway Safety Representatives, the Silver Anvil Award, the highest award of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), for my management of the “Protect Car Company Drivers” Conference.
  • 1980, received the NHTSA Administrator’s Superior Achievement Award for my work in creating the “Automobile Occupant Crash Protection Report” that was later cited by the U.S. Supreme Court in its decision to reinstate the Federal air bag regulations.
Note: All results cited herein were not solely my doing, but were possible only with the support of my wife, Rita, and many contributions of others in government, industry, academe, the public interest community and the media.