NHTSA Asleep at the Wheel — or NHTSA DUI


NHTSA Asleep at the Wheel — or NHTSA DUI

September, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Senator Markey has written an excellent article on the tragedies of crash deaths and serious injuries that have resulted over the past decade — and the hidden dangers that all Americans have faced and continue to face.  Senator Markey wrote:

“In 2004, GM and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had a secret meeting in which the attendees inexplicably agreed that cars that stalled on the road all by themselves was not necessarily a safety problem. Ten years later, the consequences of that meeting have been laid bare — the deaths of at least 21 people from a faulty ignition switch that caused Chevy Cobalts and Saturn Ions to turn off, causing cars to crash and preventing the deployment of airbags that could have saved lives.

NHTSA kept getting reports of fatal accidents caused by mysterious GM engine stalls — it even asked its contractors to investigate two of them in 2005 and 2006. But NHTSA did nothing with these reports, even though both of them found that the airbags did not deploy and that the engine was off at the time of the crashes.

In 2007, NHTSA asked for and received a secret document from GM related to the death of two Wisconsin teenagers. I made that document public for the first time at a May Senate hearing. It included a report by the Wisconsin State Patrol Academy that said that the ignition switch defect prevented airbags from deploying. It also found other examples of the same problem happening in other cars and identified a 2005 GM warning to dealers about the issue. That document correctly identified the safety defect, yet no action was taken by NHTSA”  See

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-ed-markey/asleep-at-the-wheel_b_5900530.html

Preponderance of Evidence of NHTSA DUI I have documented people in major positions of power and influence over NHTSA policies over the past decade.  To use Deputy NHTSA David Friedman’s term preponderance of evidence see the people, positions, and times of Federal, GM and other industry officials over the past decade.  The American people are capable of connecting  the dots and judging the guilt or innocence of NHTSA DUI.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/CFCV-MonthlyReport-March2014.pdf

Lou

 

Questioning NHTSA Approved Regional Recalls for Exploding Airbags


Questioning NHTSA Approved Regional Recalls for Exploding Airbags

September, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members: “If one reads through the recall documents available on the NHTSA website it’s clear every manufacturer involved in this recall is willing to comply with NHTSA’s suggested “regional field action.” The field action, issued on June 11, 2014, calls for the replacement of air bags in certain vehicles located in Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. On that same date (June 11, 2014) NHTSA opened an investigation to determine what is causing these air bags to spray potentially deadly fragments at drivers and passengers when the air bags deploy.“While this recall is similar to the GM and Toyota recalls there are some important differences. First, the recall is (so far) regional in nature. It only applies to vehicles in specific locations because the nature of the air bag problem appears climate related. Takata is claiming only high humidity will cause the air bags to deteriorate and eventually malfunction. Yet one of the fatalities linked to Takata air bags (shrapnel from the air bag cut a women, causing her to bleed to death) occurred in Richmond, Virginia in 2009. That same year another women was killed in a minor accident in Oklahoma from an exploding Takata air bag. Another air bag incident, also involving hot plastic and metal shrapnel, occurred in Los Angeles just three months ago. The first reported injury related to shrapnel from a Takata air bag deployment took place in 2004 — in Alabama. None of these locations are part of NHTSA’s June “field action” (NHTSA’s documents don’t label this action a recall, and every manufacturer response letter clearly noted that no “safety defect” determination has been made).”

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kbrauer/2014/09/15/takata-air-bag-recall-could-dwarf-gm-and-toyota-recalls/

Regional recalls provide additional evidence of NHTSA driving under the influence of the auto industry — government puppets protecting profits rather than people. 

Lou

 

Vehicle Safety and Improvement Act Introduced by Reps, Waxman and Schakowsky


Vehicle Safety and Improvement Act Introduced by Reps, Waxman and Schakowsky

September, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Reps. Schakowsky and Waxman Introduce Bill to Improve Motor Vehicle Safety, Respond to Committee’s GM Investigation

Sep 18, 2014

Today, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Ranking Member of the Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee, and Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, joined by other Democratic Committee members, introduced the Vehicle Safety Improvement Act (VSIA).  This legislation will establish several new important consumer protections to improve driver, passenger, and pedestrian safety.

“The GM ignition switch recall proved that our vehicle safety laws must be strengthened,” said Rep. Schakowsky.  “This bill promotes common-sense steps to improve oversight and public access to information while doing more to hold automakers accountable for their actions – or failure to act.”

”The Vehicle Safety Improvement Act provides a meaningful response to this year’s motor vehicle recalls, which exposed far too many shortcomings in federal oversight of the safety of our roads,” said Rep. Waxman.  “The bill empowers consumers and holds auto manufacturers accountable for illegal behavior that all too often leads to tragedy.”

In an effort to reduce the likelihood of another similar disaster in the future, the Vehicle Safety Improvement Act includes, among its safety-related reforms, provisions addressing factors that contributed to the GM failure. 

The legislation builds on H.R. 4364, the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2014, a bill introduced by Ranking Member Waxman in April.  VSIA strengthens transparency and oversight, provides NHTSA with additional and enhanced safety authorities, and establishes several new protections for consumers of motor vehicles.  Among other measures, this bill:

  • Increases the collection and online publication of safety-related information from manufacturers, including communications regarding defective parts and data on fatal incidents;
  • Requires manufacturers to explain why a fatal incident may have occurred and extends from five years to 20 years the time manufacturers must retain records on possible safety defects; and
  • Increases the penalties that could be assessed, for violations of federal motor vehicle safety laws.

Original cosponsors of the bill introduced by Reps. Schakowsky and Waxman include:  Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., Rep. Bobby L. Rush, Rep. Diana DeGette, Rep. G.K. Butterfield, and Rep. Paul D. Tonko.

The full text of the bill is available online here.  A bill summary is available online here.

 

Deadly Airbags Ignored by NHTSA for a Decade under Presidents Bush and Obama


Deadly Airbags Ignored by NHTSA for a Decade under Presidents Bush and Obama

September, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

An excellent article in today’s NY Times reports:

“The details of Honda’s air bag problems, which have not been previously reported, come as General Motors continues to face questions about its ignition switch defect, which some G.M. officials knew about for a decade before the recalls were issued. In echoes of that safety crisis, The New York Times found the inadequate response to the risk of rupturing air bags was rooted in the industry’s ability to report safety problems in a minimal way, a weak regulatory agency and a disconnect between what automakers are aware of internally and what they reveal publicly.

The danger of exploding air bags was not disclosed for years after the first reported incident in 2004, despite red flags — including three additional ruptures reported to Honda in 2007, according to interviews, regulatory filings and court records.”

See http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/12/business/air-bag-flaw-long-known-led-to-recalls.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpSum&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

This kind of reporting gives us all hope for a safer America.  Hopefully, the Senate Hearings scheduled for next Tuesday will examine the regulatory captivity of NHTSA that continues to this day with high level officials, formerly employed by GM, now in charge of vehicle safety programs.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-coverupMonthly8-14.php

Lou

 

Telematics, Privacy, Safety and Lawyers


Telematics, Privacy, Safety and Lawyers

September, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members: An excellent article in Automotive News notes increasing interest in telematics data.

The privacy terms for ConnectedDrive’s BMW Assist component says it may “collect and retain an electronic or other record” of a person’s location or direction of travel at a given time — providing another potential legal tool for lawyers to go along with cellphone records, vehicle black boxes and even airbag modules.

That may irk consumers who worry about an all-seeing eye keeping tabs on their travels.

Of course, limited vehicle data can’t stand alone, experts say. The data must be backed by other evidence. But lawyers say they’re interested in using the data to build cases.

“It certainly is an intriguing new thing,” said Don Slavik, a product liability lawyer who has worked on litigation involving Toyota and unintended acceleration.

“It introduces some questions of privacy issues that people aren’t aware of. I wasn’t aware of some of this stuff until recently.”

Slavik said he hasn’t used vehicle telematics data yet, but he may turn to such data in future cases.

He said: “We’ve just learned about the large volume of data going through systems. Not just one or 10 or 20 pieces of data, but thousands of pieces of data that are reported.”

See http://www.autonews.com/article/20140914/OEM11/309159952/lawyers-reaching-for-in-car-data

As I concluded in my July Monthly Report and have written repeatedly:

“Members of Congress can ask NHTSA and GM to make
OnStar safety data publicly available for analysis by NHTSA, insurers, and safety consumer groups.  Vehicle owners own the data that GM collects, but GM controls the use of our data. We the people can obtain such data to better protect ourselves.”
Attached is a Law Review article on the subject.
Maybe now more members of Congress will get involved in making auto safety data publicly available to save lives.  
Lou

 


GM Payout Offers Begin

September, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Automotive News reports on first payouts.

“Dozens of new claims have poured in each day, with the tally rising from 445 on Sept. 12 to more than 850 now. Fund administrator Kenneth Feinberg and his staff are just beginning to review them. Early results suggest that GM will pay for many more deaths and injuries than it had acknowledged, but many claims are likely to be rejected unless families can provide more evidence.

“A significant number of these submitted claims are completely ‘undocumented’ or ‘deficiently’ documented and cannot be processed until required supporting docs are submitted,” Camille Biros, Feinberg’s deputy, told Automotive News in an email.”….

“Two of the first payment offers went to the families of Amy Rademaker and Natasha Weigel, who died in October 2006 when a Chevrolet Cobalt driven by a friend left a rural Wisconsin road and crashed into some trees.

Weigel’s stepfather, Ken Rimer, said he and his wife met with Feinberg several weeks ago and submitted a claim under what’s known as “Track B,” a less streamlined alternative that allows for individual negotiations and consideration of extenuating circumstances. Their offer includes the fund’s $1 million per-death minimum plus an additional amount Rimer and his lawyer, Bob Hilliard, didn’t disclose.

“We kind of figured this was our best avenue,” Rimer said, explaining why they chose to take Feinberg’s offer and drop the lawsuit. “It simplifies things. Anytime you go in front of a judge and jury, you don’t know what’s going to happen.”  See

http://www.autonews.com/article/20140929/OEM11/309299975/gm-victim-fund-begins-payout-offers

Latest GM statistics show 153 claims made for crash deaths and 23 crash deaths deemed eligible for GM payout offers to be made.  Data as of September 26, 2014 are publicly available at 

http://www.gmignitioncompensation.com/docs/gmFacilityOps.pdf

See

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