NHTSA Under Review, Deputy Administrator Unlikely To Be Selected, Growing Hope

NHTSA Safety Culture The AP reports:“Transportation officials are reviewing the “safety culture” of the U.S. agency that oversees auto recalls, a senior Obama administration official said Friday. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been criticized by lawmakers and safety advocates for not acting aggressively enough regarding millions of vehicles with defective air bags or faulty ignition switches.

A special Transportation Department team is examining whether “we have the dial set correctly on risk management and our safety posture in general” throughout the department, especially at the safety administration, said the official, who asked that he not be named as a condition of briefing reporters…. Announcements related to the review are expected in the coming weeks, the official said. The White House is also expected to nominate an administrator to run the troubled agency within the next two weeks, he said.”

See http://www.pddnet.com/news/2014/10/us-official-auto-safety-agency-under-review-0

And Reuters reports:“WASHINGTON — The acting chief of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, the top U.S. automotive safety regulator, is unlikely to be nominated for the job and a search is under way to fill the position, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

After a series of perceived failures at the administration, David Friedman, who has served this year as acting head of the agency, is not expected to be tapped by the Obama administration for the job, the source said….”

Rep. Fred Upton, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, on Monday said the agency needs to hold itself to a higher standard and called on new leadership.

“This can begin with the naming of a new NHTSA chief — a critically important safety post that remains vacant to this day,” Upton said in a statement.”

See https://bangordailynews.com/2014/10/28/politics/obama-administration-considering-leadership-change-at-auto-safety-agency/?ref=comments

House Energy and Commerce Committee Statement

And at  http://energycommerce.house.gov/icymi/following-committee-investigation-auto-safety-regulator-review-culture

The Big Unfolding Story 

The big unfolding story of DOT is its captivity.  Senator Blumenthal has unearthed the root of the DOT problems of life and/or death importance to the American people.  See

https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-blumenthalonnhtsa.php

And see https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/CFCV-MonthlyReport-March2014.pdf

For the first time in years, I can sense some hope for light at the end of the auto safety tunnel — sunlight with its wholesome disinfecting power.

Lou