Category: Blog

Who To Blame For Recalls & What To Do


Who To Blame For Recalls & What To Do

June, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Who to Blame

Michael R. Lemov, author of the new book “Car Safety Wars”, has written an article just published in the Detroit News:“The blame for this regulation by recall and for the slowdown in preventive standard setting must be shared by the automobile industry and Congress. The former often lobbies against new safety regulations. The Congress has starved NHTSA for adequate funding and staff for years.”  See http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2015/06/04/lemov-auto-safety-recalls-flawed-remedy/28425435/

What to Do

Consumer Advocates have written the following:“As representatives of the nation’s leading consumer, public health, and safety organizations, we are writing in support of legislation you have introduced, the Vehicle Safety Improvement Act of 2015, H.R. 1181.”

 

DOT Office of Inspector General To Issue New Report Critical of NHTSA


DOT Office of Inspector General To Issue New Report Critical of NHTSA

June, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The Detroit News story on a OIG Report to be released next Monday finds problems at NHTSA.

“Washington — A devastating year-long government audit finds sweeping problems at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and says the agency failed repeatedly over a decade to discover the General Motors ignition switch defect that’s linked to more than 110 deaths.

The scathing 42-page report by the Transportation Department’s Office of Inspector General says the nation’s auto safety regulator fails to carefully review safety issues, hold automakers accountable for safety lapses, carefully collect vehicle safety data, or properly train or supervise its staff. And it says NHTSA rejects most staff requests to open investigations into suspected defects.

“Collectively, these weaknesses have resulted in significant safety concerns being overlooked,” the report found.

The Detroit News obtained the report Friday from a government official; it is set to be released Monday by the inspector general’s office, a spokesman for that office said.” See

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/general-motors/2015/06/19/us-auditor-finds-sweeping-problems-nhtsa/28996871/

 

GM May Settle Criminal Wrongdoing Charges


GM May Settle Criminal Wrongdoing Charges

May, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The NY Times reports: “Justice Department investigators have identified criminal wrongdoing in General Motors’ failure to disclose a defect tied to at least 104 deaths, and are negotiating what is expected to be a record penalty, according to people briefed on the inquiry.”  Seehttp://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/23/business/gm-inquiry-said-to-find-criminal-wrongdoing.html?emc=edit_na_20150522&nlid=70651852&_r=1

 

History of Auto Safety: Progress & Pressing Needs


History of Auto Safety: Progress & Pressing Needs

May, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Keith Crain, Editor in Chief of Automotive News, notes 50 years of auto safety progress since publication of “Unsafe At Any Speed” by Ralph Nader.

“This industry can take pride in its accomplishments over the years. Despite that, it still needs outsiders to push for higher safety standards and greater compliance with existing rules.

Until there are no auto-related deaths or injuries, one could say that the work is not done.”  See 

Michael R. Lemov, author of Car Safety Wars, in a Baltimore Sun Op-Ed,  offers “a page of history about suffering and death on America’s highways and one big reason why it is still happening today.”  Seehttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-car-safety-20150430-story.html
Auto safety history continues to be of life or death or disability importance to all Americans.   On an average day Americans suffer nearly 100 crash deaths, 400 serious crash injuries, and estimated losses of $2 Billion. 
Automotive News reports that nearly 50% of all vehicles on the roads are not covered by existing safety regulations.  Seehttp://www.autonews.com/article/20150430/OEM11/150439993/almost-half-of-u-s-vehicles-arent-covered-under-existing-safety
We can, and must, do better protecting Americans from crash injuries.
Let’s push Presidential candidates to set a Vision Zero goal of zero deaths and serious crash injuries in a decade.  Seehttps://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/MonthlyReportforFebruary2015.pdf
Lou

 

What You Can Do When Your Car is Recalled


What You Can Do When Your Car is Recalled

May, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Good advice from a fellow retired NHTSA Official is in a Huffington Post article:“Ask for a loaner vehicle. You may get one — and it might just save your life.…

Allan Kam, a former senior enforcement attorney at NHTSA, told The Huffington Post that the planned hearing speaks to the severity of the problem. Kam, who served at NHTSA from 1975 to 2000, said that in the past, recalls were completed much more rapidly.

“It typically did not take months,” Kam said. Recalls that long were “the exception, rather than the rule.”  See

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/21/auto-recall-takata-airbags_n_7379654.html?1432255418

 

Insights Into NHTSA’s New Activity on Recalls


Insights Into NHTSA’s New Activity on Recalls

May, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members: “The U.S. auto safety watchdog, long criticized as toothless and slow, is showing both bark and bite under its new boss – a testimony to his credentials as a safety expert and a hardening of the administration’s policy after a wave of deadly defects.”http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/24/us-autos-takata-nhtsa-insight-idUSKBN0O90F220150524

 

Law Professors on GM Recalls and Government Failures


Law Professors on GM Recalls and Government Failures

May, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Please see this excellent article – that many Americans should read – by two leading Law Professors that concludes:“GM’s success in working the system must be offset by criminal culpability, on both the corporate and individual level, for leaving consumers to drive in ticking time bombs for so many years.”

See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rena-steinzor/gm-and-its-no-good-very-bad_b_7191124.html

Lou