Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
A good article on how people can avoid blind spot accidents has been published by Forbes.
This is a Mirror Adjustment technique that I have used for decades and have taught my children and grandchildren. See
A Mom and Grandmother who lost two young daughters in a crash, Marianne Karth and her family, have started another petition to get President Obama to do his job of protecting us all here at home in the U.S.A. today. Her petition to end preventable deaths by vehicle violence is easily accomplished. She simply asks for the appointment of a Traffic Safety Ombudsman to pursue reasonable and effective safety policies. Seehttp://annaleahmary.com/2016/08/new-care2-petition-to-end-preventable-crash-deaths-appoint-a-traffic-safety-ombudsman/
If anything has been learned in recent years, it is that the Federal government, now captive of corporate powers, has failed us all. See http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/29/opinion/weak-oversight-deadly-cars.html?_r=0
Today we are on a path to counting our 4 millionth fatality due to vehicle violence in the coming decade. See
Michael R. Lemov, author of “Car Safety Wars” and of “People’s Warrior”, has noted the 50th Anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act in a piece carried by The Detroit News.
Lemov wrote:“It is now 50 years since Congressman John Moss’ greatest triumph, the Freedom of Information Act. Since then, the law has been improved here and adopted, in one form or another, in over 100 countries….
“PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICERS. In December, I led a group to the White House, where we spoke with President Obama’s press secretary, Josh Earnest, on behalf of 53 journalism organizations.
The topic: The trend by public information officers at federal agencies to prevent journalists from doing their jobs and getting information to the American people. The problem has gotten worse, not better, under the “most transparent administration in history,” which is what the president called for the day after his inauguration in 2009.
PIOs have become a stifling pinchpoint for information, or in the case where interviews actually are allowed, minders who seek to make sure that the company line is preserved.
Earnest was cordial and the conversation was candid. But we haven’t seen any follow-up as the Obama administration plays out the clock.
I choose to be an optimist on a daily basis, but this problem is only going to get worse. And it doesn’t matter which candidate wins the presidential election in November.
FIX FOIA by 50. Finally, this was a big one. SPJ is a member of the Sunshine in Government Initiative, a combine of nine journalist and open-government groups. SGI worked tirelessly on behalf of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, a measure that passed both houses of Congress unanimously. “Fix FOIA by 50” was the mantra, seeking passage of the bill before the 50th anniversary of the act’s initial passage.
The bill brings FOIA into the 21st century; among other reforms, it allows for electronic requests and requires electronic documents to be created. There will be a single online portal to submit FOIA requests to agencies. It establishes, by statute, a presumption of openness in our government.
President Obama signed the bill on June 30, just a few days before July 4, the day President Lyndon Johnson signed the first FOIA in 1966. We fixed FOIA by 50, and we gave America a little something extra to celebrate on Independence Day this year.” See http://blogs.spjnetwork.org/president/2016/08/09/the-last-roundup/
August 26, 2016
FTC Sells Out Consumers & Justice Department in Consent Order Allowing GM to SellCertified Used Cars With Outstanding Safety Recalls
In allowing GM to sell unrepaired vehicles with outstanding safety recalls, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) not only is out-of-touch with vehicle safety in America but also jeopardizes the Justice Department’s Consent Settlement in the GM ignition switch mass defect that killed at least 174 consumers. In a letter to US Attorney for the Southern District of NY Preet Bharara, CAS Executive Director Clarence Ditlow wrote:
In a proposed consent agreement with General Motors, the Federal Trade Commission would emasculate Section 15(a)(4)of the DPA by allowing vehicles with open recalls to be sold in GM’s certified pre-owned (“CPO”)program. There is no place in a CPO program for vehicles with open recalls which endangers the life of anyone who buys such a vehicle. We call on your office to promptly step in and request the Commission to put the proposed GM order on hold so that the Independent Monitor’s team has a full opportunity, with a clean slate, to review, assess, and make recommendations regarding GM’s procedures for addressing the known defects of open recalls in certified pre-owned vehicles. This is the time to show how the DPA can benefit consumers.
# # #
CAS Letter to US Attorney Preet Bharara – 8/25/16
U.S. Senators’ Letter to NHTSA Administrator and FTC Chairwoman – 7/14/16
Consumer Groups, et. al Comments on Proposed Consent Agreement – 2/29/16
FTC Federal Register Notice: Proposed Consent Agreement – 2/3/16
FTC Documents
· Agreement Containing Consent Order
· Analysis of Proposed Consent Order to Aid Public Comment
Clarence Ditlow
Executive Director
Center for Auto Safety
1825 Connecticut Ave NW #330
Washington DC 20009
The FTC is yet another Federal Agency failing to protect the American people from harm.
When will it end?
Our Past:
Our Present:
Steve Berman, a plaintiffs’ lawyer involved in the GM litigation, said the Second Circuit rarely grants requests for a rehearing, and noted the court’s decision was unanimous”. See http://www.wsj.com/articles/gm-continues-to-seek-shield-from-ignition-switch-suits-1470951862?mod=itp&mod=djemITP_h
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
NBC has moved NHTSA to investigate an obvious safety problem.
“The federal government is now investigating one of the most famous tours in the world because of an NBC4 investigation. The I-Team series documented potential safety hazards of Hollywood tour buses, including showing how some seatbelts have been modified or removed altogether. The series also looked at how the buses have been customized so that they are “topless,” leading experts and officials to question their ability to protect passengers in the event of an accident.
The United States Department of Transportation has mailed certified letters to more than two dozen tour bus companies stating it believes the convertible tour buses lining Hollywood Boulevard are not safe and should not be taking passengers anywhere.”
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Marianne Karth, who lost two daughters in a crash, wrote:
My grandson just turned 10 years-old. Lately I’ve been noticing little things that show me how much he is maturing and taking responsibility. And I keep thinking how proud AnnaLeah and Mary would be of him. They both spent so much time with him from the time he was born.
One thing Marcus asked me about the other day was when he saw my copy of the book Car Safety Wars by Michael Lemov. Car safety wars, he asked? So I had to try and explain it. I asked him what a war is and what happens in a war. And we talked about how it’s a war because while we’re “fighting for” some things to make cars and roads safer, other people are fighting against them.
Imagine.
See http://annaleahmary.com/2016/07/casualties-of-the-car-safety-wars/
The 2016 Democratic Party Platform is quite lengthy and I am sure contains many things of interest to many Americans. But the federal government has one role that is unquestionable: to protect its citizens.
. . . the right to protection was not merely a matter of constitutional theory, but a doctrine with concrete legal meaning. In the common law tradition, the protection of the law implied both the recognition of fundamental rights by law, and the enforcement of such rights by government. The paradigmatic instance was the government’s duty to protect individuals against violence. By the middle of the nineteenth century, this duty was understood to include not only the enforcement of civil and criminal law with respect to injuries already committed, but also the responsibility to prevent violence before it occurred. THE FIRST DUTY OF GOVERNMENT: PROTECTION, LIBERTY AND THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT
So why is the protection of American citizens from vehicle violence not listed on the Democratic Party Platform? 2016 Democratic Party Platform July 21, 2016″
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