Will Senator Thune Hold Auto Safety Hearing on Tesla Fatal Crash Before the Nov Elections?

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

NHTSA has failed to protect us again by policies promoting use of motorists as guinea pigs for profits.https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog/blog-nhtsasresponsibilitiesfordeaths/

Consumers are increasingly concerned about self driving cars. See http://www.fairwarning.org/2016/06/self-driving-cars/ andhttps://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog/blog-autosafetyadvocatestellobamatostoprushtogetselfdrivingcarsonroad/

Now Senator John Thune (R) of SD, up for re-election this year, has written to Tesla’s Elon Musk:“To address the foregoing issues, I request that you direct company representatives to brief Committee staff on the details of this incident, including the technology that was in use at the time, Tesla’s actions in response, and the company’s cooperation with NHTSA, by no later than July 29, 2016.” See https://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2016/7/thune-seeks-answers-from-elon-musk-on-autopilot-technology

But there are 34 Senate seats up for election in 2016 and Senator Thune is expected to easily win re-election. Seehttps://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_elections,_2016?gclid=CLnT6c7I-s0CFcQkhgodhFINYwDo the people of South Dakota know that every year more than 100 people die of crash injuries in SD? See https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=e21e612d64654d75943f85a1a6035472

Do the people of South Dakota know what their chances of surviving crash injuries are without health care?

According to the NY Times editorial today SD does not yet have Medicaid expansion. See http://kff.org/health-reform/slide/current-status-of-the-medicaid-expansion-decision/ andhttp://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/17/opinion/obamacares-kindest-critic.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region

Do the American people know how their State ranks in vehicle fatalities? See

https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/2011-CrashFatalitiesByStateRank.pdf andhttp://www.fairwarning.org/2012/11/traffic-deaths-a-surprising-dimension-of-the-red-state-blue-state-divide/Political policies and elections matter. Matter to people in the most important dimensions of life or death. Seehttps://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/MonthlyReport-January2013-Vol1.pdf andhttps://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/Oct2013-Monthly%20Report-HealthInsurance.pdfSo will Senator Thune hold an auto safety hearing on the Tesla fatal crash before the Nov. elections?

Will the media ask questions and demand answers of government and auto company officials that advance safety?

Will the Senate invite both Mr. Musk and Marianne Karth who, having lost two daughters in a truck underride crash , knows first hand the importance of safety policies? See http://www.fairwarning.org/2016/06/underride-crashes/

Lou Lombardo

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____________________Lou Lombardowww.CareForCrashVictims.com

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