Despite Polls FOR Safety, Pols Work AGAINST Safety
November, 2015
2. Polls Show Support FOR Safety:
NEW POLL FINDS AMERICANS ACROSS ALL SOCIO-ECONOMIC INDICATORS AND POLITICAL PARTIES SUPPORT SAFETY POSITIONS ON ISSUES NOW BEFORE CONGRESS
>> Support Criminal Penalties for Corporate Auto and Equipment Executives who Cover Up Dangerous Safety Defects
>> Support Car Dealers Being Required to Repair Recalled Used and Loaner Cars Before Consumers Drive Away
>> Oppose Teen Truck and Bus Drivers in Interstate Traffic and
>> Oppose Oversized Double Trailer Trucks on Our Nation’s Roads and Highways
Washington, D.C. (November 17, 2015) – Right now, Members of the House and Senate are racing to finish negotiations on a multi-billion dollar six-year surface transportation bill, known as the DRIVE Act (H.R. 22) and the annual spending bill for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)(H.R. 3488). These critically important bills not only will set transportation policies and funding levels for the construction and repair of highways, bridges and transit systems but they will also have a deadly impact on safety if changes are not made. Decisions about how safe or how dangerous our roads and highways will be are being made this week. Even though the bills will be paid for by taxpayers, anti-safety special interests aided by their friends in Congress have succeeded in carving corporate earmarks, industry giveaways and special exemptions from safety rules, all at the expense of public safety.
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) commissioned a public opinion poll to gauge public support and opposition for a few of the critical motor vehicle and motor carrier safety issues at stake in the DRIVE Act and transportation appropriations bill. The poll was taken this past weekend and shows very strong levels of public support for safety positions across all categories including age, gender, religion, race, income, education and political party affiliation. Below is a summary of the poll findings. The complete findings of the poll are available at www.saferoads.org.
3. Some Officials Work AGAINST Safety
“WASHINGTON — Buried deep within a massive transportation bill that passed the House of Representatives is a little-noticed provision that won’t have much effect on highway projects, but is of great interest to automobile dealers.
The provision, an amendment offered just before midnight on Nov. 11, would allow dealers to rent or loan out vehicles even if they are subject to safety recalls. Rental car companies, meanwhile, don’t get the same treatment under the proposed law.
In essence, the amendment would allow an auto dealer to loan you a vehicle under active recall while you are getting your own fixed for the same defect.
The man who offered the amendment is no stranger to car dealerships. In fact, that’s his business. U.S. Rep.Roger Williams, R-Austin, sponsored the amendment. In introducing it on the floor of the House, he noted, “I am a second-generation auto dealer. I have been in the industry most of my life. I know it well.”
The possibility that his action might be considered a conflict of interest was apparently not on his mind, though it certainly occurred to others.”
