Category: Blog

A mother (and lawyer) who lost two daughters in a tragic crash and went on to be an effective safety advocate has written us as follows about this court decision:“This is huge!    For so long now, industry has used the settlement/confidentiality to cover up for all types of corporate crimes.    I hope the circuit court’s decision isn’t appealed.   From my own personal experience both at trial, and in the legislative process, industry always argues, as they did in our case, that our tragedy was an isolated case, passing the ball off to safety advocates to find cases.   Not many have the resources or attorneys that can withstand the war of attrition that exists in lawsuits against corporate defendants.    Most settle, and their records are sealed.   This will certainly give the corporate defendants pause in their legal tactics.”

Please see video on what even children understand and feel.http://annaleahmary.com/2015/12/give-1-for-iihs-crash-tests-on-5516-3-yrs-1-day-after-our-deadly-underride-crash/

Please see Petition at https://www.change.org/p/keep-car-buyers-and-drivers-safe

An excellent article by David Shepardson reveals a “Titanic” agreement between government and the auto industry to be announced at the Detroit Auto Show.

“The U.S. government and a group of global automakers are set to unveil a voluntary agreement at the Detroit auto show on Friday aimed at improving auto industry safety and spurring culture changes, according to company and government officials.

The accord could set the framework for further discussions on safety reforms and mark a new era of cooperation between automakers and regulators after a record-setting year of safety fines, recalls and investigations into malfunctioning vehicles made by General Motors Co (GM.N), Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCAU.N), Honda Motor Co (7267.T) and others.

But it stops short of what many safety advocates have urged Congress and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to adopt: new binding legal requirements to toughen safety rules. And automakers may be able to raise the voluntary agreement to argue against future proposed regulations, saying the accord makes legally binding rules unnecessary….”  

NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said on Monday in an interview on the sidelines of the Detroit show that the agency cannot make vehicles safe simply by imposing new regulations and handing down fines. He said he hoped a deal would be announced Friday.

“We’re going to have to find new tools – that means new collaborations, new partnerships,” Rosekind said.

But the voluntary agreement will not be enforceable – and is not as tough as what some safety advocates have called for. With only a year remaining in the Obama administration, there is a shrinking window to complete new legally binding auto safety rules.”  See http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autoshow-detroit-safety-idUSKCN0UP2EG20160112

How many will die?

When the Titanic sunk in 1912, it had 2,227 people on board but lifeboats for only 980 people.  1,500 people died.  The lifeboat standard was not enough. Seehttp://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1058&context=cong