Category: Blog

Senators Blumenthal and Markey on NHTSA’s Unaceptable Recall Completion Rates


Senators Blumenthal and Markey on NHTSA’s Unaceptable Recall Completion Rates

December, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

For Immediate Release:

Contact: Josh Zembik (Blumenthal) – 202-224-6452

December 23, 2015

Giselle Barry (Markey) – 202-224-2742

BLUMENTHAL, MARKEY ON NHSTA RECALL COMPLETION RATES: “COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE AND A MASSIVE DISAPPOINTMENT”

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) issued the following statement on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) current completion rates for replacing recalled Takata airbags:

 

“Today’s update from NHTSA reiterates what we already know: the current pace of recall efforts is completely unacceptable and a massive disappointment. While they have increased somewhat in the last few weeks, these completion rates are dismal – NHTSA and automakers deserve a lump of coal this year for failing to get their act together to get every potentially deadly airbag off the road. As the holiday season brings increased travel, Americans on the road to visit family or friends should not be at risk because of NHTSA’s lethargic recall.

 

“The coordinated remedy and appointment of an independent monitor are helpful steps, but are largely required because NHTSA has moved too slowly and ineptly for years, allowing a patchwork of recalls too confusing for consumers to follow. Automakers have dragged their feet and failed to quickly and clearly communicate the extent of the risk to NHTSA and the public. While NHTSA’s appointment of John D. Buretta, an experienced litigator with a track record of protecting consumers, as independent monitor of the recall is a positive step, NHTSA must ensure that Mr. Buretta has all resources necessary to effectively oversee this critical task.

 

“While we appreciate Honda, Subaru, and Mazda’s recall expansions to ensure an adequate safety margin, there remain many un-recalled vehicles on the road  that still contain potentially defective Takata airbags. The identification of yet another preventable death – this time a young boy and well after when this safety defect was first made known – reiterates the urgent need for swift recall of all cars with these potentially defective airbags, which we have been urging NHTSA to require for months. The longer it takes to require and complete this recall, the more drivers and passengers are at risk of injury or death.”

 

 

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The Airbag “Mess” That Harms Us


The Airbag “Mess” That Harms Us

December, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
As I read this, it is yet another excellent article that documents our “rigged” system of people and policies in corporations and government that harm us.

Bloomberg reports:

“A ‘Mess’

NHTSA agrees that movement on the Takata case took too long and that’s why it included deadlines for action in its consent order with the company, Trowbridge said. For example, manufacturers in states with high humidity, which has been linked to the air bag failures, must have enough parts on hand by March to complete all repairs, he said.

“We’ve got kind of a mess on our hands here and everybody acknowledges this,” he said. “This is not going to get done fast enough to satisfy us or, frankly, we think the manufactures that are involved.”

Law changes that would make recall completion rates higher have consistently been fought by the industry, Ditlow said.

A measure contained in transportation legislation earlier this year would have required used car dealers to perform all outstanding recalls before selling vehicles. It was taken out of the bill before it passed.” See

 

Analysis of Lives Saved by Lower Vehicle Death Rates Since Ralph Nader’s Unsafe at Any Speed


Analysis of Lives Saved by Lower Vehicle Death Rates Since Ralph Nader’s Unsafe at Any Speed

December, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Please see the excellent news below that we all can be thankful for from Clarence Ditlow.  

Let us all be inspired to do more to save lives!

Lou

 

December 1, 2015 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Caitlin Graf, The Nation, caitlin@thenation.com, 212-209-5426 Clarence Ditlow, The Center for Auto Safety, 202-328-7700

Exclusive to The Nation

New York, NY – December 1, 2015 – Based on an exclusive new analysis of deaths per mile driven, the Center for Auto Safety (CAS) and The Nation, America’s premiere weekly magazine of progressive politics and culture, today announced that auto safety-related measures—the 1966 federal laws, federal agency and general measures they created—have averted 3.5 million auto deaths over the past 50 years.

The data, compiled by CAS executive director Clarence Ditlow and timed to the 50th anniversary of the publication of Ralph Nader’s Unsafe At Any Speed, are exclusively reported in “How Ralph Nader Changed America,” a Nation profile of the crusading consumer advocate by Mark Green. It will be published in the December 21/28, 2015 edition of the magazine and be accompanied by an interviewbetween Nader and national affairs correspondent John Nichols. 

“3.5 million represents the difference between the number of deaths that there would have been if the death rate had stayed at 5.50 per hundred million VMT (vehicle miles traveled) in 1966 versus what it went down to in each subsequent year, falling to 1.07 by 2014,” * said Ditlow. “Deaths have been saved by traffic laws (seat belt use, speed limits, helmet and drunk driving laws), safer roads, vehicle safety standards and vehicle safety improvements spurred by consumer demand for more safety after Unsafe at Any Speed.” *See chart at end, “Analysis of Lives Saved by Lower Vehicle Death Rates.”

Green, who worked for Nader in Washington, DC, from 1970-1980 and later became the first elected Public Advocate of New York City, added: “These 3.5 million American lives saved over five decades by auto regulation reducing auto-related death rates by 80 percent—as many saved per year as were killed in the entire Vietnam War—is a persuasive numerical rebuttal to all who glibly denounce ‘big government.’ Would they maintain their disdain if shown to among the 3.5 million? The issue is not the size of government but how a smart democracy can successfully save millions of lives.”

The Nation published Nader’s first article on auto safety, “The Safe Car You Can’t Buy,” on April 11, 1959, when he was just one year out of Harvard Law School. [Read an excerpt.] This article would provide the basis for Unsafe at Any Speed, which in turn helped launch the consumer-rights movement.

Until the fall of 1966, there was no federal regulatory law or agency protecting them from death and injury on the nation’s highways. In that year, 50,894 people were killed and 1.9 million injured. Prior to 1966, over 1.6 million people had been killed in motor vehicle accidents in the United States before the Congress passed two landmark pieces of legislation that year—the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act and its companion bill, the Highway Safety Act. If the 1966 fatality rate of 5.50 deaths per hundred million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) had continued, 167,956 people would have been killed in vehicle crashes in 2014. Instead, the death rate was 1.07—a decline of 80 percent over 50 years—with 32,675 killed.

In 1965, the publication of Nader’s Unsafe at Any Speed exposed the deplorable safety records of auto companies. The book—and subsequent investigation of the author by General Motors—led to Congressional hearings overseen by Senators Warren Magnuson and Abraham Ribicoff. At the Senate hearing, GM President James Roche apologized to Mr. Nader for his company’s probes. Within a few months, the Senate and House unanimously passed the Vehicle Safety and Highway Safety Acts, which were signed by President Lyndon Johnson on September 16th, who stated: “In this century, more than one and a half million of our fellow citizens have died on our streets and highways; nearly three times as many Americans as we have lost in all our wars. . . . I’m proud at this moment to sign these bills—which promise, in the years to come, to cure the highway disease: to end the years of horror and give us years of hope.”

For booking requests or further information, please see contact information above.

About the Center for Auto Safety:

Consumers Union and Ralph Nader founded the Center for Auto Safety (CAS) in 1970 to provide consumers a voice for auto safety and quality in Washington and to help lemon owners fight back across the country. CAS has a small budget but a big impact on the auto industry. With less than half what General Motors spends on a single Super Bowl commercial, CAS has taken on the auto giants and won for consumers. Its many accomplishments include lemon laws in every state; recall of the infamous Ford Pinto for exploding gas tanks and the Firestone 500 tire for tread separation; exposure of GM Firebomb pickups with side saddle gas tanks that burned over 1,000 people to death; state laws to force disclosure of secret warranties on cars that can save consumers billions of dollars each year; safety and highway standards that have dropped the death rate on America’s road from 5.2 per 100 million vehicles mile traveled in 1969 to 1.1 in 2010; and numerous legal victories over government agencies that have saved vital consumer, safety and environmental laws under assault by industry.

About The Nation:

Founded in 1865, The Nation is America’s oldest weekly magazine, serving as a critical, independent voice in American journalism and a platform for investigative reporting and spirited debate on issues of import to the progressive community. Through changing times and fashions, The Nation and TheNation.com offer consistently informed and inspired reporting and analysis of breaking news, politics, social issues and the arts—never faltering in our editorial commitment to what Nation Publisher Emeritus Victor Navasky has called “a dissenting, independent, trouble-making, idea-launching journal of critical opinion.” 

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 Center for Auto Safety Analysis of Lives Saved by Lower Vehicle Death Rates Since 1966

Year

# of Deaths

Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Millions

Death Rate per 100 Million VMT

# of Deaths if Death Rate = 1966

# of Lives Saved

1966

50,894

925,899

5.50

50,894

-0-

1967

50,724

964,005

5.26

53,020

2,126

1968

52,725

1,015,869

5.19

55,873

5,149

1969

53,543

1,061,791

5.04

58,399

5,674

1970

52,627

1,109,724

4.74

61,035

7,492

1971

52,542

1,178,811

4.46

64,835

12,208

1972

54,589

1,259,786

4.33

69,288

16,746

1973

54,052

1,313,110

4.12

72,221

17,632

1974

45,196

1,280,544

3.53

70,430

16,378

1975

44,525

1,327,664

3.35

73,022

27,826

1976

45,523

1,402,380

3.25

77,131

32,606

1977

47,878

1,467,027

3.26

80,686

35,163

1978

50,331

1,544,704

3.26

84,959

37,081

1979

51,093

1,529,133

3.34

84,102

33,771

1980

51,091

1,527,295

3.35

84,001

32,908

1981

49,301

1,555,308

3.17

85,542

34,451

1982

43,945

1,595,010

2.76

87,726

38,425

1983

42,589

1,652,788

2.58

90,903

46,958

1984

44,257

1,720,269

2.57

94,615

52,026

1985

43,825

1,774,826

2.47

97,615

53,358

1986

46,087

1,834,872

2.51

100,918

57,093

1987

46,390

1,921,204

2.41

105,666

59,579

1988

47,087

2,025,962

2.32

111,428

65,038

1989

45,582

2,096,487

2.17

115,307

68,220

1990

44,599

2,144,362

2.08

117,940

72,358

1991

41,508

2,172,050

1.91

119,463

74,864

1992

39,250

2,247,151

1.75

123,593

82,085

1993

40,150

2,296,378

1.75

126,301

87,051

1994

40,716

2,357,588

1.73

129,667

89,517

1995

41,817

2,422,823

1.73

133,255

92,539

1996

42,065

2,484,080

1.69

136,624

94,807

1997

42,013

2,552,233

1.65

140,373

98,308

1998

41,501

2,628,148

1.58

144,548

102,535

1999

41,717

2,690,241

1.55

147,963

106,462

2000

41,945

2,746,925

1.53

151,081

109,364

2001

42,196

2,795,610

1.51

153,759

111,814

2002

43,005

2,855,508

1.51

157,053

114,857

2003

42,884

2,890,221

1.48

158,962

115,957

2004

42,836

2,964,788

1.44

163,063

120,179

2005

43,510

2,989,430

1.46

164,419

121,583

2006

42,708

3,014,371

1.42

165,790

122,280

2007

41,259

3,031,124

1.36

166,712

124,004

2008

37,423

2,976,528

1.25

163,709

122,450

2009

33,883

2,956,764

1.15

162,622

125,199

2010

32,999

2,967,266

1.11

163,200

129,317

2011

32,479

2,950,402

1.10

162,272

129,273

2012

33,782

2,968,815

1.14

163,285

130,806

2013

32,719

2,965,579

1.10

163,107

129,325

2014

32,675

3,053,738

1.07

167,956

135,237

1966 thru 2014

TOTAL LIVES SAVED

3,500,078

 

Clarence Ditlow

Executive Director

Center for Auto Safety

1825 Connecticut Ave NW #330

Washington DC 20009

 


 [New post] Missing you this Christmas, AnnaLeah & Mary. With hope, we carry on.

December, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Missing!  

Who and what has the power to end crash violence in all its forms?  Crash victims and their stories.

The message forwarded (see here) is from Marianne Karth a mother who lost two daughters in a violent preventable crash is an example of what there has not been enough of in auto safety.  It is the stories of crash victims that give life and tears to the dry statistics that NHTSA records regularly.  Currently, the NHTSA statistics are at the rate of about 100 deaths, 400 serious injuries, and $2 Billion in losses per day in the U.S.A. 

Under Joan Claybrook’s too short reign at NHTSA, I had the privilege to have a small part in research on the effects of crashes on families.

See  https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/effects-on-families.php

Elections have consequences.   Ronald Reagan’s election ended Joan Claybrook’s leadership at NHTSA.  Reagan’s reign of safety terror also ended the research on the effects of crashes on children and families.  Lest some readers think “terror” is a typo for “error” consider: *  Reagan also ended research on stronger Truck Under-ride Guards,  *  Reagan rescinded the airbag rule (later overruled by the Supreme Court 9-0),  *  Reagan cut the size of NHTSA from 900 safety workers to 600 – a reduced level that persists to this day.

*  Here in the U.S.A. about 1.5 million Americans died of crash injuries since the beginning of the Reagan reign of terror began.  

So this former conservative Republican who worked for election of Goldwater in 1964 and later became a conservative converted by my conscience against Republican policies, I believe the word safety “terror” is appropriate.  

As for the Clinton and Obama Administrations, they clearly did too little to end crash violence.  See http://www.fairwarning.org/2012/09/a-strange-indifference-to-highway-carnage/ To this day there is not even a Vision Zero Goal to end violent crash deaths and serious injuries in or by new vehicles in a decade.  Hillary Clinton has been willing to raise the gun violence issue.  Will Sen. Sanders be willing to raise the crash violence issue (there are far more injuries in crashes)?  We have to end both gun and crash violence.  

To do so it will take citizens sharing their stories and motivating and mobilizing fellow citizens politically and economically.

Building a Safer America depends on the actions of its citizens.   Here’s hope for progress in the Car Safety Wars in the new (election) year.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/Trial_2015_09Sept_AmmonsreviewofLemov.pdf

Lou

 

———- Forwarded message ———- From: AnnaLeah & Mary <donotreply@wordpress.com> Date: Fri, Dec 25, 2015 at 11:48 PM Subject: [New post] Missing you this Christmas, AnnaLeah & Mary. With hope, we carry on. To: louis.v.lombardo@gmail.com

 


A Crash Victim’s Thank You: Rental Car Safety Victory in Sight!

December, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Cally Houck issued a “Thank You” for all the support that helped the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act pass the House and Senate this week. “When it becomes the law of the land, it will be a violation of federal law for a rental car company, including car dealers, with a loaner / rental car fleet of 35 vehicles or more, to rent, loan, or sell an unrepaired recalled car until the safety defects have been repaired. I’m thrilled! But I am very concerned about the car dealers’ dangerous 35-car loophole. That loophole was all about politics. Not safety.… But today, I want to thank each and every one of you for speaking up and sending messages to Rep. Upton, who was the last holdout against closing the car dealers’ loaner car loophole.”   Seehttps://www.change.org/p/rep-fred-upton-repfredupton-support-the-raechel-and-jacqueline-houck-safe-rental-car-act/u/14472382 

Lou

 

URGENT: Truck Safety Assaults Continue — Yogi Berra was Right, “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over”

This quote from the late great Yogi Berra sums up the safety fight that is still going on right now in Congress as the House and Senate wrap up negotiations on the FY2016 annual spending bill, also known as the “omnibus spending bill”. Special trucking interests have pursued a dual strategy of pushing anti-truck safety provisions in the recent surface transportation funding bill, the FAST Act, H.R. 22, signed into law on Friday and the annual DOT spending bill.  There are still major assaults on truck safety at stake that will be decided this week as House and Senate leaders wrap up negotiations.  None of these anti-safety measures was subject to any congressional hearing, any review by the U.S. Department of Transportation or any public input, yet, if enacted will have a major and deadly impact on safety.  The FY2016 transportation appropriations bill passed by the House on June 9, 2015 and the version passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee on June 25, 2015 include provisions mandating every state allow monster-sized trucks pulling Double 33’ trailers, a dramatic increase in truck driver work and driving hours, and a roadblock to an overdue rulemaking on minimum insurance requirements for motor carriers.

Trucking interests are counting on back room negotiations and behind the scenes deal-making to get their safety rollbacks.  Safety groups, truck crash victims, law enforcement, state officials, truck drivers, rail labor, regional railroads and others are still working to stop the assault.

On Friday, organizations sent the letter below urging:

– NO Double 33’ Trailer Trucks: Last month the Senate voted twice to stop this deadly proposal which would force states to allow these trucks which are the size of 8-story office buildings on their roads.  There has been no evaluation of their safety and infrastructure damage implications, no Congressional hearings, and no input from the states which will be forced to pick up the bill for resultant damages.  The public strongly opposes being forced to drive next to Double 33s (see public opinion poll in letter).

–NO Extension of the Tired Trucker Provision: The truck crash caused by an overly fatigued truck driver that seriously injured Tracy Morgan and killed James McNair happened a year and a half ago today.  That crash is just one of the numerous crashes that occur because truck drivers are being pushed beyond their limits to drive up to 82 hours in a week.  Truck driver fatigue is a deadly, yet preventable, public health problem.  The Obama Administration rule which gives truck drivers a “weekend off” should be reinstated.

–NO Special Interest Exemptions from Truck Size and Weight Limits.

–YES to Accepting the Increased Funding Levels for the Vehicle Safety Programs of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA):  Countless Congressional hearings on record number of vehicle recalls these past two years as well as the unacceptable deaths and injuries caused by cover-ups of deadly GM ignition switches and exploding Takata airbags pointed to the lack of adequate financial and staff resources at the agency responsible for overseeing and regulating the auto industry.

We hope you will continue to cover these critically important issues.  Please call if you would like additional information or to schedule an interview.

Thank you, Cathy

Catherine Chase

Vice President, Governmental Affairs

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety

750 First Street, NE

Suite 1130

Washington, DC 20002

202-408-1711

(C) 571-243-7282

www.saferoads.org

December 4, 2015

Dear Republican and Democratic Leaders of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations:

We are writing to urge you to oppose provisions in the FY2016 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations bills (H.R. 2577) that rollback truck safety regulations and jeopardize the safety of truck drivers and the public.  None of these provisions has been subject to congressional hearings by the authorizing committees of jurisdiction and should be stripped from the FY2016 omnibus spending bill especially at a time when truck crash deaths and injuries are climbing.  These dangerous policy changes benefit special interests and include a controversial mandate that all states be forced to accept longer and more dangerous double 33’ trailer trucks when the Senate has rejected this proposal in two bi-partisan votes; longer working and driving hours for truck drivers when fatigue is already a major problem in the industry; and, special interest exemptions to truck size and weight laws.

Furthermore, yesterday the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed the FAST Act, H.R. 22, which increases the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) authorization levels for vehicle safety programs to $179 million.  Twelve congressional hearings in the past two years have revealed serious vehicle safety defects and auto industry misbehavior.  A major factor in NHTSA’s shortcomings in identifying, investigating and acting on deadly defects that have killed and maimed hundreds is the insufficient agency resources needed to effectively oversee the auto industry.  Providing adequate funding and staff resources is critical to solving many of the identified problems.  We urge you to fully fund NHTSA’s vehicle safety programs at this level in the appropriations bill.

Stop Efforts by FedEx and Other Corporate Trucking Giants to Force Longer Trucks on Roads in Every State

A major national policy change to allow Double 33’ trailer trucks on our nation’s highways being pushed by a few select trucking companies would override states’ rights, jeopardize safety and damage our nation’s already-crumbling infrastructure.  An amendment offered by Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) that would require the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to study the safety of Double 33s is a commonsense alternative and we strongly support its inclusion in an overall funding bill.

The public strongly opposes allowing oversized trucks on our roads and highways.  An independent public opinion poll by ORC International conducted last month found that more than 3 out of 4 Americans (77%) opposed Double 33s.

Reject Yet Another Effort for Trucking Interests to Rollback the HOS Rule

Truck driver fatigue is a major safety problem that has severe consequences as demonstrated by crashes such as the one that killed comedian James McNair and seriously injured Tracy Morgan. A provision originally slipped into last year’s “Cromnibus” rolls back important and commonsense safety reforms to hours of service rules and significantly increases the working and driving hours for truck drivers from 70 to 82.  Once again, the public is adamantly against increasing truck driver working and driving hours as shown in a 2014 survey by Lake Research Partners wherein 80% of respondents opposed Congress raising the number of hours a semi-truck driver is allowed to work in a week. The so-called “Collins Amendment” language should not be extended by burdening the on-going DOT study with new and needless requirements.

Oppose Special Interest Exemptions to Federal Truck Size and Weight Limits

Special interest truck size and weight exemptions for certain states and industries represent “earmarks” and impose a cost that is ultimately passed on to all American taxpayers who foot the bill for infrastructure damage and repairs. Bigger trucks are bigger safety problems and impose bigger damage on roads and bridges.  Currently 32% of America’s major roads are in poor or mediocre condition and 25% of our bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. A January 2015 poll by Harper Polling found that 76% of the public opposes longer and heavier trucks on the highways.

Fund NHTSA’s Motor Vehicle Safety Programs at the Authorized Level in the FAST Act

NHTSA’s funding and staffing levels have suffered over the years.  Today, 95 percent of transportation-related fatalities and 99 percent of transportation injuries occur on our streets and highways and yet, NHTSA receives only one percent of the overall U.S. DOT budget. NHTSA is responsible for the safety of over 316 million Americans who drive or ride in or are around more than 269 million registered motor vehicles. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for all Americans ages five to 24, and the second leading cause of death among adults 25 to 34 years of age. By any measure motor vehicle deaths and injuries are a major and costly public health epidemic.  In order to advance safety gains and improve the agency’s effectiveness in detecting, investigating and solving safety threats as well as meeting new expected challenges, an increase in funding is essential and justified for NHTSA.  We urge you to fully fund NHTSA’s vehicle safety programs at the $179 million level agreed to in the FAST Act.

As you move forward with negotiations on an omnibus bill, we urge you to only include measures that will advance safety and not the agenda of special interests.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline Gillan, President                                                    James P. Hoffa, General President

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety                              International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Joan Claybrook, Chair                                                            John Risch, National Legislative Director

Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways and                        SMART-TD (UTU)

Former Administrator, National Highway

Traffic Safety Administration                                                Andrew McGuire, Executive Director

Trauma Foundation

Jack Gillis, Director of Public Affairs

Consumer Federation of America                                           Clarence Ditlow, Executive Director

Center for Auto Safety

John Lannen, Executive Director

Truck Safety Coalition (TSC)                                                 Steve Owings, Co-Founder

Road Safe America

Janette E. Fennell, Founder & President

KidsAndCars.org

Daphne Izer, Founder

Lisbon, ME

Parents Against Tired Truckers (PATT)

Mother of Jeff Izer, Killed in a truck crash 10/10/93

Jane Mathis

St. Augustine, FL

Vice President, TSC; Board Member, PATT

Member, Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee

Mother of David Mathis

Mother-in-Law of Mary Kathryn Mathis

Killed in a truck crash 3/25/04

Dawn King

Davisburg, MI

President, Truck Safety Coalition

Board Member, Citizens for Reliable and Safe

Highways (CRASH)

Daughter of Bill Badger

Killed in truck crash 12/23/04

Russ Swift

Port St. Lucie, FL

Co-chair, Parents Against Tired Truckers

Father of Jasen Swift

Killed in a truck crash 10/14/93

Linda Wilburn

Weatherford, OK

Board Member, PATT

Mother of Orbie Wilburn

Killed in a truck crash 9/2/02

Tami Friedrich Trakh

Corona, CA

Board Member, CRASH

Member, MCSAC

Sister of Kris Mercurio, Sister-in-Law of Alan Mercurio, Aunt of Brandie Rooker & Anthony Mercurio

Killed in a truck crash 12/27/89

Larry Liberatore

Severn, MD

Board Member, PATT

Father of Nick Liberatore

Killed in a truck crash 6/9/97

Marc Johnson

Hartwell, GA

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Brother of Curt Johnson

Killed in truck crash 10/1/2009

Vickie Johnson

Hartwell, GA

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Wife of Curt Johnson, Step-mother of Crystal Johnson

Killed in a truck crash 10/1/2009

Beth Badger

Columbus, GA

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Daughter of Bill Badger

Killed in truck crash 12/23/04

Kathleen Laubach

Reno, NV

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Truck Crash Survivor

Vincent Laubach

Reno, NV

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Truck Crash Survivor

Lisa Shrum

Fayette, MO

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Daughter of Virginia Baker, Step-daughter of Randy Baker

Killed in a truck crash 10/10/06

 

Tina Silva

Ontario, CA

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Sister of Kris Mercurio, Sister-in-Law of Alan Mercurio, Aunt of Brandie Rooker & Anthony Mercurio

Killed in a truck crash 12/27/89

Bruce King

Davisburg, MI

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Son-in-law of Bill Badger

Killed in truck crash 12/23/04

Laurie Higginbotham

Memphis, TN

Volunteers, Truck Safety Coalition

Mother of Michael Higginbotham

Killed in a truck crash, 11/18/14

Randall Higginbotham

Memphis, TN

Volunteers, Truck Safety Coalition

Father of Michael Higginbotham

Killed in a truck crash, 11/18/14

Ed Slattery

Lutherville, MD

Board Member, PATT

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Husband of Susan Slattery

Killed in a truck crash 8/16/10

Sons Matthew & Peter Slattery critically injured

Kate Brown

Gurnee, IL

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Mother of Graham Brown

Injured in a truck crash 5/2/05

Ron Wood

Washington, D.C.

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Son of Betsy Wood, Brother of Lisa Wood Martin, Uncle of Chance, Brock, and Reid Martin

Killed in a truck crash 9/20/04

Gary Wilburn

Weatherford, OK

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Father of Orbie Wilburn

Killed in a truck crash 9/2/02

Henry Steck

Homer, NY

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Melissa Gouge

Washington, D.C.

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Cousin of Amy Corbin

Killed in a truck crash 8/18/97

Cindy Southern

Cleveland, TN

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Wife of James Whitaker, sister-in-law Anthony Hixon and aunt of Amber Hixon

Killed in a truck crash 9/18/09

Kim Telep

Harrisburg, PA

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Wife of Bradley Telep

Killed in a truck crash 8/29/12

Alan Dana

Plattsburgh, NY

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Son of Janet Dana, Uncle of Caitlyn & Lauryn Dana, Brother-in-law of Laurie Dana

Killed in a truck crash 7/19/12

Amy Fletcher

Perrysburg, OH

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Wife of John Fletcher

Killed in a truck crash 1/24/12

Steve Izer

Lisbon, ME

Board Member, PATT

Father of Jeff Izer

Killed in a truck crash 10/10/93

Jennifer Tierney

Kernersville, NC

Board Member, CRASH

Member, MCSAC

Daughter of James Mooney

Killed in a truck crash 9/20/83

Nancy Meuleners

Bloomington, MN

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Injured in a truck crash 12/19/89

Paul Badger

Davidson, NC

Son of Bill Badger

Killed in truck crash 12/23/04

Marianne Karth

Rocky Mount, NC

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Founder, AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety

Mother of AnnaLeah and Mary Karth

Killed in a truck crash 5/4/13

Jerry Karth

Rocky Mount, NC

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Founder, AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety

Father of AnnaLeah and Mary Karth

Killed in a truck crash 5/4/13

Frank Wood

Falls Church, VA

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Father of Dana Wood

Killed in a truck crash 10/15/02

Marchelle Wood

Falls Church, VA

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Mother of Dana Wood

Killed in a truck crash 10/15/02

Jackie Novak

Hendersonville, NC

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Mother of Charles “Chuck” Novak

Killed in a truck crash 10/24/10

Julie Branon Magnan

South Burlington, VT

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Injured in a truck crash 01/31/02

Wife of David Magnan

Killed in a truck crash 01/31/02

Christina Mahaney

Jackman, ME

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Injured in a truck crash 7/19/2011

Mother of Liam Mahaney

Killed in a truck crash 7/19/2011

Sandra Lance

Chesterfield, VA

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Mother of Kristen Belair

Killed in a truck crash 8/26/2009

Debra Cruz

Harlingen, TX

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Injured in a truck crash 8/8/2008

Bernadette Fox

Davis, CA

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Best friend of Daniel McGuire

Killed in a truck crash 7/10/2014

Warren Huffman

Odessa, MI

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Brother of Tim Huffman

Killed in a truck crash 5/6/13

Tammy Huffman

Odessa, MI

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Sister-in-law of Tim Huffman

Killed in a truck crash 5/6/13

Wanda Lindsay

New Braunfels, TX

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Wife of John Lindsay

Killed in a truck crash 5/7/10

Tom Lindsay

Carrollton, KY

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Son of John Lindsay

Killed in a truck crash 5/7/10

Ashley McMillan

Memphis, TN

Volunteers, Truck Safety Coalition

Girlfriend of Michael Higginbotham

Killed in a truck crash, 11/18/14

Michelle Novak

Delevan, NY

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Aunt of Charles “Chuck” Novak

Killed in a truck crash 10/24/10

John Ramsey

Edneyville, NC

Volunteer, Truck Safety Coalition

Blankenship Verdict – Mixed Message For Corporate Crimes


Blankenship Verdict – Mixed Message For Corporate Crimes

December, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Insightful article:

“Just as a federal jury split on what crimes former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was guilty of, opinion is split on the message sent by his conviction Thursday on one charge that will, at most, result in a one-year prison sentence.

To some, the fact that a Charleston, W.Va., jury ruled Mr. Blankenship was guilty of conspiring to violate federal mine safety laws, a misdemeanor, sets an important precedent for holding corporate executives responsible for their behavior.

For those who believe Mr. Blankenship’s pursuit of profits at the expense of safety contributed to the 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners at Massey’s Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, it’s another indication that corporate executives are largely prosecution-proof….”

“More recently, safety activists were outraged by a U.S. Department of Justice deferred prosecution agreement with General Motors over the automaker’s faulty ignition switch that caused more than 170 deaths.

The company admitted to concealing a potentially deadly safety defect from regulators and misleading consumers about the safety of their vehicles. GM, the beneficiary of a government bailout during the recession, agreed to pay $900 million.

If the automaker abides by the terms of the agreement for three years, prosecutors will seek to dismiss two criminal charges against the company.

Here’s what the Center for Auto Safety said about the agreement: “GM killed over 100 people by knowingly putting a defective ignition switch into over 1 million vehicles. Yet no one from GM went to jail or was even charged with criminal homicide.”  See