Blog Archives - Page 69 of 115 - Care For Crash Victims

Crash Victims Organize For A Safer America

September, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Out of a tragic crash comes hope for a safer America.

Citizens have organized a project for the world to contribute to research on improving safety. Seehttp://annaleahmary.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Underride-Guard-Research-Brochure.pdf

The first focus of the Karth family is on Truck Underride Guards a subject I had a short involvement with in the late 1970s at NHTSA under Administrator Joan Claybrook. I, and others, tried to get a strong underride guard rule promulgated. See http://trid.trb.org/view.aspx?id=214652

and see Byron Bloch http://www.autosafetyexpert.com/Assets/Docs/article-underride.pdf

It was a short lived effort because in 1980 Ronald Reagan became President. He replaced Administrator Joan Claybrook with a coal industry lobbyist Raymond A. Peck, Jr. with devastating consequences for the safety of Americans that still continue.

The Republican Reagan Administration quickly ripped up the airbag rules, reduced the NHTSA work force from 900 people to 600 people (a level that persists to this date), and stopped efforts for a strong underride guard. Corporate interests continue to subvert safety policies to this day – including truck safety. See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-predictable.php

People can contribute to this new citizen safety effort athttps://www.fortrucksafety.com/

Lou

Voices for Crash Victims Will Be Heard Today on DemocracyNow on GM Settlement

September, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Laura Gipe Christian, Ralph Nader and Rena Steinzor are scheduled today,Sept. 18, 2015 at 8-9:00am EST, to discuss the travesty of the GM Settlement with the U.S. Justice Department.

Laura Gipe Christian is the mother of a daughter killed in a GM ignition switch crash and founder of Facebook site GM Recall Survivors at https://www.facebook.com/gmrecall.survivors

Lou

Before Deadly Labor Day, The National Safety Council Warns on Rising Crash Deaths

August, 2015

U.S. on pace for deadliest driving year since 2007, says National Safety Council

Traffic deaths and serious injuries substantially higher in first six months of 2015

Itasca, IL – The National Safety Council estimates traffic deaths are 14 percent higher through the first six months of 2015 than they were during the same period in 2014, and serious injuries are 30 percent higher[i]. From January to June, nearly 19,000 people died in traffic crashes across the U.S., and more than 2.2 million were seriously injured[ii], putting the country on pace for its deadliest driving year since 2007. See

http://www.nsc.org/NSCNewsReleases/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=64

Predictable Deaths, Injuries, Lo$$es, Moral Bankruptcy and Election Consequences

August, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Joan Claybrook wrote a letter to the Editor of the Washington Post that was published on August 7, 2015. In it she wrote pointing to a failure of a Washington Post Editorial. “The July 25 editorial “A bill that ignores the obvious,” about the Senate’s proposed six-year highway funding bill, failed to mention that the bill would roll back numerous truck safety rules and programs, which could result in more deaths and injuries on highways.”

Already, 4,000 people die and 100,000 are injured each year in truck crashes. Such a toll would never be tolerated for airline travel, yet Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) gave the trucking industry what the Transportation Department has rejected: the ability to keep secret the DOT safety ratings of truck companies and removal from the DOT database of crashes that a trucking company claims were not its fault. The bill would permit five-year exemptions from hours-of-service rules, allow drivers ages 18 to 20 to operate in interstate commerce even though the rate of crashes is higher than for older driversand halt the freeze on dangerous double- and triple-trailer vehicles that the public rightfully hates. It also fails to enhance safety measures that senators requested after discovering safety defect cover-ups.

This bill must be rewritten to enhance safety, not degrade it.” See

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-dangerous-highway-bill/2015/08/07/45159930-37a4-11e5-ab7b-6416d97c73c2_story.html

Why did Senator John Thune (R-SD) Ignore Safety?

Every year the number of people who die of crash injuries in South Dakota amounts to more than 2 people in every average week – year after year. See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/CrashDeathMappingTools.php

Senator Thune is currently Chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. As such he currently holds great power to shape safety legislation. Along with such power comes great responsibility to all Americans.

Senator Thune is up for re-election in 2016 in the Red State of SD.

SD had a worse fatality rate than 41 other States in the U.S.A. in 2013. See attached Excel Spreadsheet “2013NT Crash Fatalities By State Rank”

Note: the 2013 Crash Fatalities by State show the vast majority of worst States are Red States and the vast majority of safest States were Blue States. In 2013, the number who died in Red States amounted to 14,013 Americans. Red State lives matter. The Great Republican Democrat Divide has a long and deadly history in auto safety.

The Moral Bankruptcy of Political Policies of Un-Safety

Perhaps the most egregious episode occurred when Ronald Reagan took office as President in 1981. He replaced Joan Claybrook as Administrator of NHTSA with a coal industry lobbyist named Raymond A. Peck, Jr. Under Reagan, the safety standard requiring automatic crash protection (airbags) was rescinded. And NHTSA personnel were reduced by 33% — 300 safety workers gone by the end of 1982. To this day, NHTSA is still at the reduced staffing level of 1982.

Since President Reagan took office in 1981, the number of Americans who died of crash injuries (on public roads and within 30 days of the crash) now amounts to more than 1,142,500 people. About 4 million additional Americans have suffered serious crash injuries such as brain, spinal cord, burns, and amputations.

Think of the effects on families such as bankruptcy, and children orphaned. Imagine how many lives would have been saved if Reagan had not become President in 1981. Clearly elections have consequences.

Crash death data by State and Congressional District over the past decade are available to the public at https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/CrashDeathMappingTools.php

If only people knew how much of their safety and happiness was dependent upon their actions or in-actions….

For a Safer America,

Lou

“Batman” Killed in Crash – An Example of Societal Loss

August, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

When people die of crash injuries it results in losses to families and society – forevermore. Tragically, in many more ways than we know, most stories of crash victims that die or are seriously injured are given brief passing notice by media and society. Insights into the societal losses are too often missing in the media.

All are important stories. But some stories illustrate the impact on society more than others. This is one such story.

“Leonard Robinson, 51, of Owings Mills, retired after selling a commercial cleaning company he founded. He then spent his time dressing as Batman, visiting and lifting the spirits of sick children in hospitals for more than a decade

Robinson was hit by a car Sunday night in western Maryland after his custom vehicle—a Batmobile replica—had engine trouble and stopped partly in the fast lane on Interstate 70, Maryland State Police reported.”

See http://patch.com/maryland/rockville/s/f7293/montgomery-police-mourn-maryland-batman-killed-on-highway?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_term=police%20%26%20fire&utm_campaign=alert

Let us have more insights into the long term consequences of crashes on families and society in the media.

Lou

Comment on One of President Carter’s Greatest Decisions

August, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Please add your comments to the NY Times article. My comments are athttp://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/21/us/jimmy-carter-cancer-health.html?comments#permid=15853413

Lou

Chrysler Class Action Settlement & NHTSA Criticized by CAS

August, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The Center for Auto Safety has issued the following release:

TIPM Class Action Settlement Approved With Rental Car & Full Repair Reimbursment

CAS Criticizes NHTSA for Violating Safety Act & Not Knowing Chrysler Misled Agency

On August 17, 2015, a California District Court approved a landmark settlement in Velasco v. Chrysler Group LLC that obtained full reimbursement for the $1,100 to $1,200 repair cost of a TIPM-7 module and for the cost of rental – far beyond the $100 to $200 replacement cost of a fuel relay in the safety recall. The Settlement Agreement signed by Chrysler shows the settlement agreement was reached in January 2015 and was contingent on Chrysler doing a safety recall of 2012-13 Grand Cherokees and Durangos. The class action forced the recall. NHTSA never opened an investigation into stalling on 2011-13 Chrysler SUVs for stalling caused by a defective TIPM-7 module despite the part going on national backorder in 2013.

The Safety Act requires NHTSA to grant or deny a defect petition in 120 days. NHTSA took 337 days to deny CAS’ Defect Petition, failed to obtain a single document from Velasco including ones that showed Chrysler began an investigation more than a year earlier than it told NHTSA, and used the 337 days to construct a strawman denial of the CAS Petition.

Statement of Clarence Ditlow

# # #