Category: Blog

Corruption As A Right???


Corruption As A Right???

April, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Resources for fighting for safety:  
Law article and NY Times Editorial:
Book on how our safety is bought:
Conference on how we can fight back against Big Money and Power:https://www.breakingthroughpower.org/
Lou

 

Truck Safety Tests by IIHS – Important to Workers

Truck Safety Tests by IIHS – Important to Workers

April, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

An excellent article, showing a video of an IIHS crash test, conveys the importance of truck safety to workers and companies.

“Both consumers and businesses should pay attention to the IIHS tests, safety experts said.

“These ratings are terribly important,” said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety. “If I was a fleet manager, I would make sure I had my workers in the safest one. It also will save companies money over the long run.”

Beyond preventing injury, using safer vehicles reduces lost work time, workers’ compensation insurance claims and liability risk, Ditlow said.”  See

https://www.trucks.com/2016/04/12/ford-f-150-pickup-truck-earns-top-safety-rating/

The National Safety Council’s 2015 Injury Facts reports that at work about 1,500 motor vehicle deaths and 100,000 injuries occur each year.  The NSC estimates the economic costs to be nearly $24 billion in 2013.

That is about 4 motor vehicle deaths at work per day in the U.S.A. today.

The silence on this tragically preventable problem of American workers from President Obama, presidential candidates, and the media is deafening.

When will enough be enough?

Lou

 

Mother of Daughters Killed In Truck Under-ride Crash Asks NHTSA Questions the Media Should be Asking


Mother of Daughters Killed In Truck Under-ride Crash Asks NHTSA Questions the Media Should be Asking

April, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Marianne Karth asked NHTSA for information on Truck Underride Deaths. 

NHTSA provided a revealing and disturbing set of data.

For twenty years about 4 people every average week an American motorist died of their injuries according to NHTSA’s FARS data.  From 1994-2014 the total amounting to 5,081 deaths were recorded by NHTSA.  See attached.
Year after tragic year the number has remained almost constant at more than 200 deaths each year.

See http://annaleahmary.com/2016/04/truck-underride-fatalities-chart-from-the-fars-1994-2014/

Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) have access to such data, so why don’t we see more stories?  See DOT and NHTSA databases available at IRE at http://ire.org/nicar/database-library/

Let’s get the media focusing on our clear and present dangers here at home in the U.S.A. today.
Let’s get the media to produce change for the better with news we can use.
Lou

 

Crash Victims Work For Underride Protecion


Crash Victims Work For Underride Protecion

April, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Please see inspirational work to make us all safer at http://annaleahmary.com/2016/04/underride-roundtable-to-highlight-underride-research-around-globe/

Hopefully some in the media can convey the importance of this safety work to end needless tragedies sooner rather than later.

Lou

 

Vision Zero Crash “Casualties” as Seen By a Deal Making Investor


Vision Zero Crash “Casualties” as Seen By a Deal Making Investor

April, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Thanks to Roger Lanctot for this link to an interesting article on the future of autonomous vehicles as seen by an investor:

“In 20 years, I think it may even be illegal for a human to drive a car on many public roads. It will be too dangerous. You won’t just be endangering yourself, and you’ll be endangering everyone around you.

There are 50K casualties a year in the US alone on the roads (almost double the number of deaths caused by firearms). In 2010, the World Health Organization estimated there were 1.25 million driving-related fatalities. These cars will drop that to close to zero. Just like you can’t go running around with an assault rifle.”  See

 

DOT Secretary Foxx Uses Revolving Door To Reward Former Federal “Safety” Officials


DOT Secretary Foxx Uses Revolving Door To Reward Former Federal “Safety” Officials

April, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The Washington Post reports:The three new federal board members, who will take office June 1, are Carol Carmody, former vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board; David Strickland, former administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; and Robert Lauby, chief safety officer of the Federal Railroad Administration.

They will replace Mortimer Downey, who recently completed a term as board chairman; Harriet Tregoning, a senior official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development: and Anthony R. Giancola, former executive director of the National Association of County Engineers.

Foxx praised the outgoing directors for their “excellent service,” but there was no mistaking his desire to force change on the board so Metro would deal more aggressively with safety.

Despite decades of warnings from the federal government and others, Metro has failed to instill a safety-first mind-set in its workforce and allowed its equipment to deteriorate so much that it sometimes endangers riders.

“Building a safety culture is not easy and requires relentless focus at every level,” Foxx wrote. “These three new Federal members will build on our promise to bring a laser-like focus on making the transit system of our nation’s capital as safe as possible.”

 

See https://www.wmata.com/about/board/biographies.cfm#main-content See https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/foxx-saying-no-more-excuses-for-metro-on-safety-replaces-3-board-members/2016/04/28/0089c108-0d53-11e6-bfa1-4efa856caf2a_story.html