Dear Care for Crash Victims community members:
Gov. Romney is campaigning with a Dollar Debt Clock named “Our National Debt”. The readout is approaching $15.7 Trillion after 235 years of accumulation – much of which is owed to institutional investors.
Source: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/16/11732547-romney-presses-obama-on-debt-with-aid-of-prop-clock
Let’s compare that with a Crash Death Dollar Debt Clock. The U.S.A. Crash Death Clock now reads out 3,562,858 auto crash deaths after 112 years of accumulation.
Sources: https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/death-clock/Attached NHTSA Report 811346, page 27. Applying DOT current value of a statistical life of $6.2 million to the U.S.A. crash deaths = $22 Trillion. Note that this does not include any value for people who suffered serious crash injuries but survived.
Now let us imagine a president of the people concerned about people campaigning against a presidential candidate of the powerful concerned about dollars.
Imagine if NHTSA would provide the public (and the President):
* a U.S.A. Crash Death Clock. Anyone can have this one free.
** a U.S.A. Crash Death Dollar Clock.
*** a U.S.A. Crash Lives (and Dollars) Saved Clock. NHTSA has some numbers in attached NHTSA Report 811402 at p. 217. Note that these numbers grossly underestimate benefits of airbags, NCAP, serious injuries mitigated and prevented and more. But it would be a start.
Would this be too much for people to ask for of NHTSA Administrator Strickland and DOT Secretary LaHood? They have the power. And as my grandson at age 7 told me “With great power comes great responsibility.”
And as one insurer likes to ask: “What’s your policy?”
People or Money?