Category: Blog

A Judicial Victory Against Chrysler For Public Safety, Accountability, and Transparency


A Judicial Victory Against Chrysler For Public Safety, Accountability, and Transparency

January, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

“Corporation conceals deadly defect. Someone dies, and their family sues. Corporation settles quietly. Court records are sealed. Nobody finds out.

Jennifer Bennett Public Justice

Jennifer Bennett Public Justice

More people are hurt. More people sue. More settlements are reached. More records are sealed.

“This is how GM was able to hide an ignition switch defect that killed over a hundred people for more than a decade,” says Jennifer Bennett, an attorney with Public Justice in Oakland, California.  “It’s how Remington concealed evidence that its most popular rifle can fire without anyone pulling the trigger.”

But be because of a Ninth Circuit decision handed down in Velasco v. Chrysler, “it is now much harder for corporations to enlist courts in keeping their secrets,” Bennett says.”

– See more at:

http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/news/200/ninth-circuit-hands-safety-advocates-victory-over-chrysler/

 

Policies and Politics of Auto Safety


Monthly Report: Policies and Politics of Auto Safety

January, 2016

Dear Care For Crash Victims Community Members:

To help us all advance safety in this election year, I have put together some political facts and figures on auto safety.

Please see the January 2016 Monthly Report attached.  Let us hope it helps us all build a Safer and more Just America.

Lou

 

Nader on Costs to Humanity of Monetized Elections


Nader on Costs to Humanity of Monetized Elections

January, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members: Nader explains the system that enslaves us and he encourages us to act:

“Voters, you can change all this rancid defilement of our Republic and its democratic dreams. Do your homework on the parties and the candidates, form informal groups to demand debates and agendas that you preside over, push for more choices on the ballot, make votes count over money. The internet can help speed up such efforts.

You outnumber the politicos and their entourages everywhere.  You are the ones who keep paying the price for letting politics remain a deadly form of distracting entertainment with a mainstream media obsessed with the horse race rather than the human race.”  See 

https://blog.nader.org/2016/01/21/the-devastating-cost-of-monetized-elections/ Read Nader’s article for a better understanding of why in the 21st Century we still do not have a Vision Zero goal for an end to crash deaths and serious injuries in or by a new car in a decade – despite the unprecedented availability of unused safety technologies.  Are we to have crash deaths and serious injuries forevermore?  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/MonthlyReportforJanuary2016-Corrected.pdf

We can and must do better protecting our health, safety, money, and sovereignty.  This election gives us an opportunity and responsibility to help build a Safer America.

 

NY Times Editorial Calls Out Against Bipartisan Effort To Undermine Regulations


NY Times Editorial Calls Out Against Bipartisan Effort To Undermine Regulations

January, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The NY Times Editorial Board wrote:Under the legislation, however, Congress would actively interfere in the rule-making process. One provision would require that the Congressional Budget Office review and approve the costs and benefits of proposed rules….The Democrats behind the effort are Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Mark Warner of Virginia and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, joined by Angus King Jr., an independent from Maine. The Republicans are Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rob Portman of Ohio, James Lankford of Oklahoma and Roy Blunt of Missouri. The group is trying to recruit more co-sponsors, especially among Democrats.  See

Citizens need information on how wrong and harmful this effort is to people in their own States and Congressional Districts.   For crash deaths by State see the Table attached:
Sen. Heitkamp D of ND, 1st Term:  148 crash deaths in 2013,  ND ranked 48th in crash deaths per population, and 68% of the crash deaths were not taken to any medical facility for emergency care.
Sen. Mark Warner D of VA, 2nd Term:
748 crash deaths in 2013, VA ranked 16th in crash deaths per population, and 60% of the crash deaths were not taken to any medical facility for emergency care.
Sen. Joe Manchin D of WV, 2nd Term:
332 crash deaths in 2013, WV ranked 47th in crash deaths per population, and 53% of the crash deaths were not taken to any medical facility for emergency care.
Sen. Angus King I of ME, 1st Term:
145 crash deaths in 2013, ME ranked 25th in crash deaths per population, and 66% of the crash deaths were not taken to any medical facility for emergency care.
Sen. Ron Johnson R of WI, 1st Term:

543 crash deaths in 2013, WI ranked 18th in crash deaths per population, and 62% of the crash deaths were not taken to any medical facility for emergency care.
Sen. Rob Portman R of OH, 1st Term:

989 crash deaths in 2013, OH ranked 13th in crash deaths per population, and 53% of the crash deaths were not taken to any medical facility for emergency care.
Sen. James Lankford R of OK, 1st Term:

678 crash deaths in 2013, OK ranked 45th in crash deaths per population, and 60% of the crash deaths were not taken to any medical facility for emergency care.
Sen. Roy Blunt R of MO, 1st Term:

757 crash deaths in 2013, MO ranked 32nd in crash deaths per population, and 60% of the crash deaths were not taken to any medical facility for emergency care.
Let’s give voters the information they need to understand what is happening to them and to act in their own best interest to prevent politics and policies detrimental to all of us.  
We all have roles and responsibilities to build a Safer America.   Let’s use our voices and votes for Safety.
Lou

 

President Obama’s Visit to Detroit Auto Show & Safety Vision


President Obama’s Visit to Detroit Auto Show & Safety Vision

January, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

President Obama’s Visit to Detroit Auto Show this week is being cast as a political victory lap, but it will mask further giveaways to industry.   Safety leaders are already telling it like it is. 

See NY Times article at

What to watch for, but probably won’t see: 1.  For President Obama’s tears for the nearly 230,000 people that died of crash injuries and were counted by NHTSA under Obama’s watch so far + another estimated 33,000 that will die this year.  And for the estimated 1 million that will have suffered serious crash injuries under his two terms as President.  See NHTSA stats at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812217.pdf
2.  For President Obama to apologize for not meeting with safety advocates such as Ralph Nader and citizens to rectify NHTSA’s corporate captivity.  He has often met with CEOs.  See http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/29/opinion/weak-oversight-deadly-cars.htmland https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/CFCV-MonthlyReport-March2014.pdf 
3.  For President Obama to acknowledge that his appointees have met with auto CEO’s, agreed to weak agreements behind closed doors, gone through the revolving door to work for the auto industry, and left people to continue to die.  See the latest fatal Jeep court case at http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/01/15/massive-suit-over-fatal-pennsylvania-crash.htmand http://www.autosafety.org/jeep-grand-cherokee-fires-homepage
4.  For President Obama’s apologies for a 7 year failure to adopt a Vision Zero Goal for crash deaths and serious injuries in or by a new vehicle in a decade.  Seehttps://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/MonthlyReportforJanuary2016-Corrected.pdf
5.  For President Obama to take his thumb off the scale favoring (more of the same) candidate Clinton over (change) candidate Sanders.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog/blog-hillaryguns/
As one of our community noted wryly:  “This one’s had me smiling since the “Historic Agreement” was breathlessly leaked to Reuters a few days ago on the 11th. Then after four days of suspense we get… Jing Tinglers and Sparkle Ponies and a nice photo op:  no task objectives… no implementation dates… no resource commitments… no metrics to measure success or failure… and above all, no regulations that might improve safety. Checking my calendar, it’s 371 days until Foxx and Rosekind will need new jobs. The historic agreement looks just like a resume.”
Lou

 

Adverse Weather and Adverse Road Conditions


Adverse Weather and Adverse Road Conditions

January, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
As we are seeing severe weather conditions, it raises questions of crashes and weather.

Back in the year 2000, I did an analysis at NHTSA on the statistics of weather and crashes.  

The numbers then revealed:

*  Large Trucks and Buses were over involved compared with cars and light trucks.  See slide 17

*  About 7,000 people were killed each year in adverse weather and road conditions in the 1990s.  See slide 21

NHTSA’s latest figures for 2013 show about 3,500 killed in adverse weather conditions (does not include adverse road conditions).  See p. 110 at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812139.pdf
Lou

 

Personnel is Policy for Safety and Justice


Personnel is Policy for Safety and Justice

January, 2016

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The NY Times just published an Op-Ed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren that notes: “Justice Department has dodged one opportunity after another to impose meaningful accountability on big corporations and their executives.

Each of these government divisions is headed by someone nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The lesson is clear: Personnel is policy.”

See http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/29/opinion/elizabeth-warren-one-way-to-rebuild-our-institutions.html

Sen. Warren refers to her new Report “Rigged Justice: 2016” (copy attached) that highlights just three of the many Automobile Safety Law Violations: GM, Honda, and Graco.  

So if Personnel is Policy – and I believe it is – what do we find at NHTSA today?

In 2014, I examined the question: Who is responsible for the last decade of crash deaths?  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/CFCV-MonthlyReport-March2014.pdf 

Today NHTSA still has the same two former GM employees in powerful auto safety research positions.  See NHTSA Organization Chart attached.

Note: I do not believe in people being fired.  But they should have been reassigned to positions with less obvious apparent conflict of interest.  For example, let them work on behavioral research such as alcohol, speed, and fatigue problems rather than vehicle safety research which they are still in charge of.

President Obama, DOT Secretary Foxx, and NHTSA Administrator Rosekind can and must do better than they have so far.  They have the power to do so.  More importantly, they have the responsibilities to do so when:  
Every average day 100 Americans die of crash injuries in the U.S.A. and 400 suffer serious injuries, and DOT values such crash losses at $2 billion – each day.