Correction and Addition: Safety Inequality in America


Correction and Addition: Safety Inequality in America

December, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Correction:  Thanks to one of our members, a typo of mine was caught – so second ad at Super Bowl costs $4.5 million – not billion.  
Addition:  And this member added some valuable information.“Roughly every 15 minutes someone dies in a motor vehicle crash.

Roughly every 15 minutes 4 people are seriously injured in an automobile crash.

That means that during a roughly 4-hour Superbowl presentation, 16 people will die and 64 people will be seriously injured.  I read somewhere that each American has roughly 5 close family contacts.  If one were to consider those, nearly 500 Americans will be impacted by death or serious injury during the Superbowl (which focuses its advertising on automobiles and beer drinking).”

That’s from a member who has been to more crash scenes than I have.  In a way, I am glad I made that typo.  Back to the original article.
An excellent article in Automotive News points out the plight of crash victims who own older vehicles — another example of Safety Inequality in America.  

““It’s a difficult problem,” said Clarence Ditlow, director of the Center for Auto Safety in Washington. “If you look at the older vehicles, the recall rate can drop to less than 50 percent.”

More than 17 million U.S. vehicles have been recalled for potentially defective Takata inflators, according to Reuters. According to a government analysis of recalls from 2000 through 2008, about 65 percent of recalled cars each year get fixed within 18 months of the recall.

So if just 65 percent of the Takata-related vehicles are fixed, that would leave some 6 million or more vehicles on the road with potentially explosive inflators that could send deadly shrapnel at drivers and passengers.

For years, Ditlow said, he has suggested a law requiring dealers to complete all recalls before selling a used car. In private transactions, the buyer would have to complete the recall before registering the vehicle.”

See http://www.autonews.com/article/20141222/OEM11/141219835/older-vehicles-can-escape-recalls-nets

This year, as in many of the past 40 years, the citizen auto safety group that has done the most to protect all Americans from crash injuries is the Center for Auto Safety.  See http://www.autosafety.org/

Inequality of Financial ResourcesYear after year, a small group has struggled on behalf of crash victims (all of us) against irresponsible actions by NHTSA and the auto industry.  It has been, and continues to be, a struggle of very limited citizen financial resources vs. nearly a Billion dollar “safety” agency + a Trillion dollar industry.   See http://www.nhtsa.gov/Laws+&+Regulations/NHTSA+Budget+Information andhttp://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2014/12/u-s-auto-industry-generates-record-1-1-trillion-in-2014-sales/

The inequality of financial resources can be recognized by the fact that the Center for Auto Safety annual budget is a small fraction of the cost of just one 30 second Super Bowl ad of $4.5 million this year. See http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2014/12/automakers-spending-big-money-to-maximize-exposure-with-super-bowl-ads/

Note that in the corporate world, the auto industry funds spent on Super Bowl ads support a violent and injurious sport to Americans.

Moral Resources
In the human world, the small amount of citizen funds donated to the Center for Auto Safety support life saving work of enormous moral value.   In the world of “right makes might” the Center for Auto Safety has often carried the day on safety issues.  It has done so with hard work and expertise: day after day, week after week, and year after year.  It has won battles in the courts of public opinion, courts of law, and the legislative and executive branches of government.  
Unfortunately, in the world of might makes right, too often moral force is not enough.
Help Balance the Safety Inequality
In the USA, more than 3.6 million Americans have lost their lives to crash injuries.  Imagine if just one family member of each of those people killed donated $1 to the Center for Auto Safety.  It would be less than the price of just one Super Bowl ad.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/clock.php In the USA, more than 688 million Americans have suffered crash injuries.  Imagine if just one family member of each of those people injured donated $1 to the Center for Auto Safety.  It would be less than the price of just 150 Super Bowl ads.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/clock.php In the USA today, nearly 100 Americans lose their lives to crash injuries, another 400 suffer serious crash injuries, and these losses are valued by DOT at $1 Billion each day.  Imagine if just one family member of each of those people killed or seriously injured donated $1 to the Center for Auto Safety.  Over one year It would amount to $182,500.  It would be about the price of 1 second of just 1 Super Bowl 30 second ad.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/clock.php
We members of the Care for Crash Victims Community can do our part at this time of moral and financial giving and donate to the Center for Auto Safety at http://www.autosafety.org/

Lou

 

Leave a Reply