Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Legal Reader has published an article in tribute to Clarence Ditlow’s work and added financial contributions to a new Fund to continue Clarence’s work.
Please see http://www.legalreader.com/tribute-to-clarence-m-ditlow-iii/
The efforts to build a just and safer America continues!
Lou Lombardo
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Christopher Jensen of Forbes reports:
“A woman who lobbied for safety reforms after her daughter died in the crash of a Chevrolet Cobalt with the ignition-switch defect is being honored with the first Clarence M. Ditlow III Safety Champion Award.
“Laura Christian exemplifies the stalwart commitment to consumer protection and vehicle safety that characterized Clarence’s life,” said Joan Claybrook, the co-chair of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, which announced the award this morning.
Ditlow, who died in November, was the executive director of The Center for Auto Safety for four decades. He served on the Advocates’ board of directors for 27 years.
He was generally regarded as the nation’s foremost advocate and expert on automotive safety, consumer rights and the workings of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.” See http://www.forbes.com/sites/
GM Recall Survivors
For an excellent information resource created and maintained by Laura Christian see https://www.facebook.com/
Lou Lombardo
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
This year, the 37th Edition, is out. This edition has a wonderful tribute by author Jack Gillis to the life saving work of Clarence Ditlow.
Jack notes how he and Clarence worked together to continue publishing The Car Book after the Reagan Administration stopped its publication by NHTSA.
Michael Brooks, current Acting Director of the Center for Auto Safety notes in an excellent Preface that when the 1966 Motor Vehicle and Traffic Safety Acts became law the fatality rate in the U.S. was nearly 26 fatalities per hundred thousand population. Today it is about 10 fatalities per hundred thousand population. Had the earlier rate continued 83,000 lives would have been lost in 2014 instead of the expected 38,700 expected in 2016.
The daily losses are still a massive national tragedy:
What I like most about the handy Car Book is that in addition to the one page summary ratings of each model vehicle, there is reliable auto buying advice. Useful information on insurance, tires, warranties, reliability, maintenance, and safety options all in one place. I keep it in my trunk with all auto repair bills.
The Car Book information helps people make wise choices on one of the most expensive and dangerous consumer products.
The Center for Auto Safety web site will have a link to purchase the Car Book up next week. See www.autosafety.org
Please buy it, be safe, write about it, and help us all be safer.
Lou Lombardo
January, 2017
AP reports:
There were 27,875 deaths in the first three quarters of last year, compared to 25,808 deaths in the same period in 2015.
“We still have to figure out what is underlying those lives lost,” NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said. “If it was simple, we would already know that.”
See http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2017/01/13/traffic-fatalities/96537568/
The NHTSA Report with the statistics (but not the tears) is at https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812358
Thus the Obama Administration is on track to record more than 250,000 deaths due to vehicle violence during 8 years in office.
January, 2017
The NY Times reports that the Mayor doing the most to reduce vehicle violence tragedies in the nation’s largest city is now being criticized politically:
“After two years of major declines in New York City’s traffic deaths, the number of people killed in crashes dropped slightly last year while pedestrian deaths rose, leading to questions about whether Mayor Bill de Blasio’s ambitious campaign to eliminate traffic fatalities has stalled.
Making streets safer has been near the top of the agenda for Mr. de Blasio, who pledged to cut traffic deaths to zero by 2024. While city officials said traffic deaths were at their lowest level in a century, the uneven results last year suggest that the mayor’s goal will be very difficult to achieve.
The overall number of people killed in traffic crashes, including pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, drivers and passengers, was 229 last year, down from 234 in 2015, according to preliminary data from the city. Pedestrian deaths, which accounted for thelargest share of fatalities, increased last year to 144, from 139 in 2015. Cyclist deaths rose last year to 18, from 14 in 2015.
Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat running for re-election this year, has defended his traffic safety program, known as Vision Zero and modeled after a Swedish plan….
“We are very committed,” Mr. de Blasio said on the cable news channel NY1 this month. “I believe in Vision Zero 110 percent, and now we have three years running where it’s produced better results each year.”
Still, Mr. de Blasio has received broad and diverse criticism. Safety advocates say his administration must move more quickly on street redesigns. Community leaders have denounced proposals for bike lanes and crosswalks when they require removing lanes for cars. State Senator Tony Avella, a Democrat from Queens who is running for mayor, recently called Mr. de Blasio “anti-motorist” and Vision Zero a failure. Even Kellyanne Conway, an adviser to President-elect Donald J. Trump, mocked Mr. de Blasio in November when the said New Yorkers were fearful after the election. “Fearful of the bike lanes?” she quipped.”
Continue reading the main story
This NY City Mayor has been trying to lead in the right direction. We just need to do more and better.
I have written about the importance of visibility especially after Daylight Savings Time ends at http://safetytoolboxtopics.com/Seasonal/end-of-daylight-saving-time-can-be-deadly.html
Lou Lombardo
January, 2017
The NY Times Editorial Board concludes: “The Long Island crash shows that federal safety loopholes need to be closed, while New York State needs to create stronger inspection and safety standards of its own. Without them, the Suffolk grand jury warned, another tragedy is bound to happen.” See http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/opinion/the-dangerous-lure-of-stretch-limos.html
The County Grand Jury found: “The deaths and injuries were entirely preventable, caused by driver failure, improper limousine construction, and inadequate regulatory oversight.” See http://www.suffolkcountyny.gov/Portals/da/PDFs/GJ%20reports/Special%20Grand%20Jury%20Limo%20Crash%202015.pdf
We need more Grand Jury investigations of crashes, injuries and consequences to achieve safety for all of us.
Lou Lombardo
January, 2017
First, watch Nader Interview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll3jtTJLRcA
Second, read “The Truth About Torts” and all the ways our paths to health, safety, happiness, and justice are under attack at http://www.progressivereform.org/torts.cfm
Third, see article on our legal rights to protect our safety and happiness and a graphic of Lady Justice struggling under the burden of Big Bucks published by Legal Reader at http://www.legalreader.com/power-of-people-to-protect-people/
Lou Lombardo
