Category: Blog

You are Invited to a Tribute To Clarence Ditlow


You are Invited to a Tribute To Clarence Ditlow

January, 2017

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

I can share this invitation with you so that you can join us at a tribute to Clarence’s life of work that helped us all advance safety.   Clarence’s Tribute is sponsored by the Center for Auto Safety (CAS) and the Center for the Study of Responsive Law.  

Date and Time

Thu, January 26, 2017

5:30 PM – 8:30 PM EST

Add to Calendar

Location

Carnegie Institute of Washington

1530 P Street Northwest

Washington, DC 20005

See links below from Katherine A. Meyer, Board Member of the CAS.

Here are the links to RSVP:  Either one should work

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-tribute-to-clarence-ditlow-tickets-29874197529

A Tribute to Clarence Ditlow

Thanks,

Kathy

Katherine A. Meyer

Meyer Glitzenstein & Eubanks LLP

4115 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.

Suite 210

Washington, D.C.  20016

(202)  588-5206

(202)  588-5049 (fax)

I sincerely hope that as a member of our community you will be able to join us, share memories with each other, and exchange information on how we can carry on the good work as Clarence would want us to do.
Lou Lombardo

 

Nader Writes to Attorney General Lynch on Takata and VW Deaths and Injuries


Nader Writes to Attorney General Lynch on Takata and VW Deaths and Injuries

January, 2017

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Nader quoted Clarence Ditlow as follows: 

“Dear Attorney General Loretta Lynch:

News outlets are reporting that you are about to settle the criminal case with Takata airbag defect case for nearly $1 billion and the Volkswagen emissions cheating case for nearly $2 billion.

On the VW case, the New York Times reported that “the company or one of its corporate entities is expected to plead guilty to criminal charges as part of the deal.”

On the Takata case, the New York Times reported that “one point that remains unresolved is whether there will be any guilty plea to criminal misconduct, either by the company or one of its subsidiaries.”

Takata’s defective airbags have been linked to at least 11 deaths and more than 180 injuries in the United States.

As you know, Clarence Ditlow, an engineer and lawyer who headed the Center for Auto Safety for many decades, passed away last year.

In early 2016, Mr. Ditlow appeared on my weekly radio program – The Ralph Nader Radio Hour –  and called for criminal charges to be brought against Takata and VW and its executives.

Ditlow called the Volkswagen diesel case one of the most egregious corporate crime cases in history.”  See 

https://blog.nader.org/2017/01/10/open-letter-to-attorney-general-lynch-prosecution-or-guilty-pleas-for-corporate-crime/

Ditlow was right then and Nader is right now.

Lou Lombardo

 

NHTSA Estimates Fatalities Up in 3rd Quarter of 2016


NHTSA Estimates Fatalities Up in 3rd Quarter of 2016

January, 2017

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

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.

Lou Lombardo

 

NY City’s Vision Zero Life Saving Becomes Political

January, 2017

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

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.

A public safety poster is available free to the City, community groups, and the NY Times at https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/home/be-safe-be-bright/

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

 

Powers of People to Protect People – District Attorneys, Grand Juries, & Media


Powers of People to Protect People – District Attorneys, Grand Juries, & Media

January, 2017

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

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

 

Power To Protect People: The American Legal System – Under Attack


Power To Protect People: The American Legal System – Under Attack

January, 2017

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

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/

The Lady Justice graphic is available for reproduction free with attribution to Legal Reader.

Lou Lombardo