Blog Archives - Page 52 of 115 - Care For Crash Victims

Letter to NHTSA To Reopen Fiat Chrysler Jeep Investigation

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

ABC News reports:

“An auto safety advocate is calling on the government to reopen an investigation of rear-crash fires in older Jeep SUVs after finding at least 11 more deaths since the vehicles were recalled.

The deaths show that the recall repair — installing a trailer hitch to protect gas tanks in low-speed crashes — hasn’t been effective, said Clarence Ditlow, head of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety.

He is calling on the government to investigate, saying the Jeeps are unsafe and a remedy should be developed that saves lives.

“As far as Fiat Chrysler is concerned, Jeeps can continue to crash and burn until they are all off the road,” Ditlow wrote in a letter to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx dated Thursday.

It’s been almost three years since Fiat Chrysler, which makes Jeeps, began recalling 1.56 million SUVs with plastic gas tanks that are mounted behind the rear axle and can rupture in a crash, spilling gasoline.

Ditlow said he found a total of 19 fire deaths in older Jeeps in a fatal accident database maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Eleven were in Jeeps that had been recalled, with eight more in SUVs not included in the recall, he said.

The deaths since the June 2013 recall bring the number of people killed in fiery crashes involving the Jeeps to as many as 86. Before the recall, NHTSA counted 75 deaths. The recalled vehicles include 1993-1998 Grand Cherokees and 2002 to 2007 Libertys….

The article continues and contains the information that

“Fiat Chrysler has agreed to offer $1,000 above market value trade-in prices on a new vehicle to owners of 1993 to 1998 Grand Cherokees. Owners of both the recalled Liberty and Grand Cherokee SUVs would get $100 gift cards to have their vehicles repaired.”

See http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/safety-advocate-asks-govt-reopen-jeep-fire-investigation-37055293

The Center for Auto Safety (CAS) letter to current DOT Secretary Foxx and current NHTSA Administrator Rosekind along with photos, and data on the fatal crashes found are included in the following release.

February 19, 2016202-328-7700

CAS Asks DOT Secretary Foxx and NHTSA Administrator Rosekind to Reopen Jeep InvestigationJeep Fire Deaths Since NHTSA Jeep Recall Request in June 2013 Exceed All Takata Deaths

Based on examination of Jeep fire crashes in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) 2013 & 2014 FARS database and police/medical/court records that showed more fire deaths than Takata airbag inflator shrapnel deaths, the Center for Auto Safety today called on DOT Secretary Foxx and NHTSA Administrator Rosekind to reopen the defect investigation into the 1993-04 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 1993-01 Cherokee and 2002-07 Liberty.

CAS Executive Director Clarence Ditlow said:

“The most lethal vehicle safety defect in America today is not the Takata airbag inflator. It’s the fuel tank behind the rear axle in the 1993-98 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 1993-01 Cherokee and 2002-07 Liberty. The Takata airbag inflator has claimed 9 lives in the US. Just since June 3, 2013 when NHTSA asked Chrysler to recall the 1993-98 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and 2002-07 Liberty, there have been 47 deaths in fatal fire crashes in the investigated Jeeps, at least 19 of which have been fire deaths according to NHTSA or medical records. The Grand Cherokee and Liberty accounted for 14 of the 19 fire deaths with 12 deaths occurring in direct rear impact crashes.

This is the recall that Chrysler never wanted to do and will never do right. As far as Fiat-Chrysler is concerned Jeeps can continue to crash and burn until they are all off the road. The Center for Auto Safety calls on you as the Secretary of Transportation and as the Administrator of NHTSA to reopen the Jeep fuel tank investigation and obtain a remedy that saves lives versus the fire deaths that will continue to occur if Fiat-Chrysler is left alone.”

# # #

CAS Letter to DOT Secretary Foxx and NHTSA Administrator Rosekind

Jeep Fire Fatalities and Injuries Since NHTSA Recall Request

Photos of Jeep Victims:

Skyler Anderson-Coughlin Chantae and Danny Reed

Kayla White

The letter and data must be read. The failures of DOT, NHTSA, and Fiat Chrysler are shocking in the amount of preventable tragedy they produced and will continue to produce if they again fail to protect.

Lou

Virginia Dealers Pulling Political Strings To Sell Unfixed Recalled Cars

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The Daily Press reports:

“Consumer advocates are sounding the alarm about legislation that they say would let car dealers off the hook when they sell recalled vehicles.

The Virginia Automobile Dealers Association says that’s not what the bills do at all. Legislators sponsoring the bills agreed, but also said they’re willing to take another look.

House Bill 1232 and Senate Bill 709 both read as consumer notice bills, and they’ve coasted through the session thus far on unanimous votes and without complaint. They require car dealers to provide written notice to buyers who purchase vehicles that have been recalled.

State law doesn’t prohibit these vehicles from being sold and it doesn’t require notice, though some dealers provide it.” See

http://www.dailypress.com/news/politics/dp-nws-ga-automobile-recall-20160207-story.html

Safety leader Rosemary Shahan asks that we warn the safety community and provides information resources:“warn our friends and allies about this horrible anti-safety legislation, on the brink of passage in VA. It’s similar to legislation that Joan opposed in CA (her letter of opposition to the CA legislation is linked below), along with CARS and many other consumer / safety organizations. Faced with burgeoning numbers of recalled cars, the dealers are seeking legislation in various states to insulate themselves from liability when they knowingly and deliberately sell consumers unsafe recalled used cars — without bothering to get them repaired first. All they would have to do to comply with the new law is “disclose” that the car is being recalled. No matter how they advertised the car. Even if they claimed in their ads that the car had “passed a rigorous 125+ point inspection” and was “Quality Certified.” And charged EXTRA for it. Even if they claimed verbally that the car was perfectly safe — something their victims would find it hard to prove. And of course, it would be impossible for them to prove, if they are dead. For many decades, such inherently deceptive disclosures have been held to be illegal, in appellate court decisions regarding dealer’s fraudulent and misleading practices / unsafe vehicles. So far, auto safety advocates have succeeded in beating back these cynical attempts to undermine existing state law protections, defeating dealer-backed bills in NJ and CA. But the dealers are close to winning in Virginia, where they have snookered legislators into voting for a bill that would shift liability from unscrupulous car dealers onto their victims. Now that we’re raising alarms about the bill, the dealers are claiming that legislators and the public shouldn’t worry about this anti-safety legislation, because, to quote the dealers: “the vast majority of recalls are for minor things.” Direct quote: Don Hall, president and CEO of the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association, said ….His group requested these bills, which Del. Greg Habeeb and state Sen. Ryan McDougle – both attorneys – are carrying through theGeneral Assembly.

“It is a disclosure bill,” Hall said. “None of that changes liability at all.” Hall also noted that the vast majority of recalls are for minor things.

Thankfully we have Rosemary Shahan and other consumer advocates watching and warning us about political strings sneakily being pulled to endanger us all – for money.

Lou

Another Lawsuit on Jeep Fire Deaths

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members: CarComplaints.com reports:

February 16, 2016 — A Jeep Grand Cherokee gas tank fire lawsuit has been filed by the brother of two people who were killed when their 1995 Grand Cherokee burst into flames from a rear-end impact.

The crash occurred when 56-year-old trucker Vincent Espinvera slammed into a line of vehicles on Interstate 78 in Greenwich Township, Berks County Pennsylvania, killing three people.

Although four people survived, the crash killed Robert Rosner, 52, Edward Dearden, 57, and 54-year-old Theresa Dearden. Espinvera faces a jury trial and three counts each of homicide by vehicle and involuntary manslaughter, two counts of aggravated assault and 17 counts of reckless endangerment.

The 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee that caught fire wasn’t the first vehicle hit by the truck, according to accident investigators. The truck first slammed into the rear-end of Rosner’s vehicle, which caught on fire and was lodged on the front of the trailer, causing Rosner to burn to death.

The Rosner vehicle rear-ended another car and that car rear-ended the Jeep Grand Cherokee, which caught on fire and killed Edward and Theresa Dearden.

See http://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2016/chrysler-sued-wrongful-death-jeep-grand-cherokee.shtml

Marianne Karth’s Latest Post – Are You Aware That Death By Motor Vehicle Is One of the Leading Causes of Death?

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

One our members continues to examine the major problem of crash deaths and serious injuries – and what we can do to end preventable tragedies that have been going on for way too long. See her post that cites Lemov’s book Car Safety Wars.

http://annaleahmary.com/2016/02/are-you-aware-that-death-by-motor-vehicle-is-one-of-the-leading-causes-of-death/

How do we get enough people to understand the problems and the solutions, and then to take action to end such tragedies?

Lou

Volkswagen Deliberately Designed Diesels To Poison Our Air & Our Lungs, Then Lied, Cheated, and Covered Up the Crime For Years

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Newsweek reported:“By the end of 2016, VW’s cars, rigged with “defeat devices” to cheat on emissions tests, will have pumped out enough excess toxic pollution to directly contribute to the premature deaths of around 60 people in the U.S. alone, MIT and Harvard University researchers determined in a new study published Monday in Environmental Research Letters .” Seehttp://www.newsweek.com/60-people-will-die-early-thanks-volkswagen-388117

And now the NY Times reports on the public relations problem of Volkswagen.

“In the months since it admitted it designed its diesel cars to cheat on tailpipe-emissions tests, the company has struggled with its messaging. A low point came last month when Matthias Müller, the new chief executive, visited the United States and told NPR, “We didn’t lie,” when VW clearly did. The outcry forced Mr. Müller to call NPR back and revise his statement.

The reaction to the scandal has been swift. A recent Harris Poll of Americans’ attitudes toward the 100 most visible companies ranked Volkswagen dead last.”

See http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/business/international/vws-crisis-strategy-forward-reverse-u-turn.html?emc=eta1

Consumer Reports’ rating of Which Brands Make The Best Cars? ranks Volkswagen 15th and average for Predicted Reliability.

The Car Book, 2016 gives mostly low safety ratings to Volkswagen models. Only the gasoline powered Jetta earned a “Best Bet” rating.

What happened to German engineering?

Automatic Emergency Braking in UK: Standard vs. Optional

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Interesting article from UK.

“While Thatcham says that it approves of the progress carmakers have made in developing crash avoidance technology, in 2015, 41% of cars on sale in the UK had AEB available, only 17% had it as standard fit. Of the remaining 24%, motorists specified less than 2% of cars with AEB as an “extra”…. A recent survey conducted by Thatcham Research and Direct Line Insurance Group found that 82% of drivers think car safety features such as AEB should be fitted as standard, not as an optional extra. Insurance companies are already recognising the effectiveness of AEB: standard fit systems typically result in a car having its insurance rating lowered by 3-5 groups, which can reduce an owner’s premium by around 10%.

Matthew Avery, Thatcham’s director of research, said: “There is no longer any excuse for carmakers to launchnew cars without AEB as standard across the board and, along with dealerships, to promote and explain AEB more effectively to consumers.

“Not only will this reduce insurance premiums, but give peace of mind for motorists by significantly reducing crashes and associated injuries.” See

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/644503/Campaign-launched-to-improve-car-safety-for-just-40

Ignore Prime Minister Cameron’s right wing view of “Emergency Braking” in the video.

Lou

Obama Administration’s Cass Sunstein – Money or Lives

February, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Safety leader Janette Fennell alerts us to the following:

Thanks to an article by Public Citizen Amit Narang in The Hill we are alerted to what has been happening:“Cass Sunstein’s proposals for improving the regulatory system, laid out in a recent Bloomberg View column, will not solve any of the real problems plaguing the regulatory process….

“Now Congress is trying to make things even worse. A package of regulatory “reforms” — including a few of Sunstein’s proposals — will soon be introduced in the U.S. Senate. As a recent editorial from The New York Times pointed out, these measures would harm our system of public protections by letting Big Business rig the rules in its favor at the expense of working families, consumers and small businesses.

It is not surprising that Sunstein has a blind spot when it comes to delays. Regulatory delays at the U.S. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) were systemic and reached unprecedented levels while he served as the agency’s administrator, levels even worse than under past administrations that were openly hostile to regulation of any kind.

Cost-benefit analysis is not the panacea for the regulatory system that Sunstein claims it to be. Rather, overreliance on cost-benefit analysis is one of the major problems right now in our regulatory process and is linked to excessive regulatory delay. The examples are legion.

New passenger rail safety technology that would have prevented the Amtrak train derailment in Pennsylvania last year was derided by Sunstein when he was administrator of OIRA as not passing a cost-benefit test. The head of the railroad industry lobby cited Sunstein’s remarks in urging Congress to delay a requirement that the new technology be in place by the end of 2015, seven years after the railroad safety law was passed. Railroad safety officials, on the other hand, have called the railroad safety technology “one of the top ten most wanted transportation safety improvements of 2016.”

Another casualty of cost-benefit analysis was the so-called “backover rule,” which required car manufacturers to include rear-view cameras in their cars. They are a proven and effective way of preventing fatalities when drivers accidentally back over pedestrians, often young children. By law, the rule was supposed to be finalized in 2011, but wasn’t actually finalized until 2014. Sunstein’s OIRA would not clear the rule because it didn’t pass his beloved cost-benefit test.

While the costs to car manufacturers were well-known, the benefits of saving pedestrians from being backed over, particularly young children, and the anguish of parents and drivers who accidentally did so, were impossible to monetize. In Sunstein’s view, this inability to assign monetary values to the lives of innocent children meant it didn’t pass his cost-benefit test.

OIRA eventually cleared the rule, but only after Sunstein left and only after Public Citizen sued the U.S. Department of Transportation to finalize and issue the rule. Hundreds of lives were needlessly lost while the rule was delayed.” Seehttps://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/the-administration/268005-why-cass-sunstein-is-wrong-on-regulatory-reform

Who is Cass Sunstein? See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cass_Sunstein

Why did the Obama Administration appoint Cass Sunstein to head the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs? What happens when people who value money over people are elected or appointed to high positions in government? People suffer and die – needlessly.

Ralph Nader, who founded Public Citizen, continues to warn us about electing big money servants rather than public servants. See his latest interview athttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/interviews/consumer-advocate-author-ralph-nader/