Consumer Reports – Empowering Us To Protect Ourselves


Consumer Reports – Empowering Us To Protect Ourselves

January, 2017

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
The Need To Protect Ourselves

At the end of the Obama years, the vehicle violence record dictates we look for how we can better protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our society. Over the last 8 years vehicle violence in America resulted in: *  250,000 lives lost *  1,000,000 serious injuries including burns, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries resulting in paralyses, and crippling limb injuries. 

*  costs estimated by NHTSA to amount to $6 Trillion

And these vehicle violence losses are growing at an increasing rate.

Consumer Reports (CR)

Consumer Reports is now asking important questions:  “As Trump Takes Office, What’s Top of Consumers’ Minds?”  See http://www.consumerreports.org/consumer-protection/as-trump-takes-office-what-is-top-of-consumers-minds/?loginMethod=auto

CR survey notes that 66% of Americans do not trust the government to look out for consumer interests.

The CR survey also notes auto safety on the list. “Automakers, as well as the high-tech companies whose products increasingly play a role in the driving experience, must make safety their top priority when engineering and deploying new cars and technologies, and be quick to respond when their products are found to have problems. As CR’s CEO, Marta Tellado, noted last fall: “The world needs visionary companies that push the envelope and create products that exceed our expectations. But ambition must be balanced with accountability: When emerging technologies bring with them new risks, it must be the company and not the consumer that shoulders them.”

CR Tools Empowering People

The CR New Car Buying Guide rates 260 models and is out now.  It has 240 pages of useful information on models.  Safety information includes:
*  Safety Ratings: CR Tests of Accident Avoidance
*  Safety equipment availability (standard and optional) for Front Crash Prevention
*  IIHS Crash Test Ratings for Front (Small Overlap and Offset), Side, Rear, and Roof Crush
*  NHTSA Crash Test Ratings for Front, Side, and Overall
*  Braking and Handling Performance Test Results
Additional Consumer Information includes: *  Fuel Economy
*  Reliability including Trouble Spots for 17 categories over past 3 years
* Consumer Satisfaction (Would You Buy That Car Again? Evaluations of Driving, Comfort, Value, and Styling)
*  Buying Advice including Checklists and Recommendations 

CR Videos: See http://www.consumerreports.org/video/view/cars/auto-test-track/5276249573001/2018-toyota-camry-preview/

Why Use This Information?
Two NHTSA stories:  Once a high NHTSA executive was visibly skeptical of my mentioning the value of CR ratings.  He later left to work for Chrysler.
Once I asked the top safety engineer for one of the big 3 auto manufacturers, and he replied that CR ratings really made a difference in the market for safer vehicles.
I have recommended CR for decades on the basis of the ability of their independent evaluations to help people save time, aggravation, money, and possibly their lives.
Lou Lombardo

 

Leave a Reply