State of Union Address 2015 – Will America Finally Get Its Vision Zero Goal?
January, 2015
Safety Opportunity & Need On January 20, 2015 President Obama is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address.
President Obama has been in charge of NHTSA for 6 years. And in each of those 6 years he has failed to set a Vision Zero Goal — for crash deaths and serious injuries in or by a new car by 2024 — for Americans.
President Obama, however, has not yet set a Vision Zero Goal for the U.S.A. And crashes in the U.S.A. under President Obama’s expected 8 years in Office are on track to record 250,000 crash deaths, 1 million serious crash injuries, and $7 Trillion in societal losses. Current daily rate in the U.S.A. is nearly 100 crash deaths, 400 serious injuries, and $2 Billion per day.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/29/opinion/weak-oversight-deadly-cars.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw%2C{%221%22%3A%22RI%3A10%22}Empathy or Indifference?President Obama, VP Biden, and NHTSA Administrator Rosekind each have personal knowledge of the tragedies of crash deaths and serious injuries. So will they act to set a worthy 10 year goal to end such tragedies? See http://www.fairwarning.org/2012/09/a-strange-indifference-to-highway-carnage/ There are safety scientists and engineers all over the world that believe this worthy goal is achievable. Unfortunately, mostly these safety experts work in organizations that value immediate profits over auto safety improvements. Safety technologies sit on shelves awaiting government mandates and corporate decisions to purchase safety technologies. These scientists and engineers, as well as citizens everywhere, need and hunger for leadership and commitment. As Ralph Nader has said:“This country has far more problems than it deserves and far more solutions than it applies.” See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-vpbidenzero.php
As the proverbs (29:18) have advised humankind for 2,000 years: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
