Tread Carefully OEMs: NHTSA Gets Serious
May, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Automotive World article on NHTSA recalls is attached FYI.
Category: Blog
Truck Safety Press Conference Tomorrow
Truck Safety Press Conference Tomorrow
May, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
NHTSA Administrator Rosekind: Wants Recall Solutions – As Do the American People
NHTSA Administrator Rosekind: Wants Recall Solutions – As Do the American People
April, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Automotive News reports:
“Everyone absolutely agrees that there are problems with notifications, parts availability and the timeliness of getting these done,” Rosekind said. “By the end of the day, we want solutions.”
Yesterday the Center for Auto Safety posted important documents on the Walden tragedy involving a defective Chrysler Jeep made public by the plaintiff attorneys father and son team of Jim and Jeb Butler.
Thanks to the Butlers, their team, and the Walden family these documents are landmarks in the continuing work of Justice and now can be used to advance safety for all Americans. See
Important Documents from Walden v. Chrysler
Walden page: http://www.autosafety.org/walden-v-chrysler-trial
Americans and NHTSA Administrator Rosekind now face the life or death question: How many more tragedies must we suffer before the endangerment of American lives is ended?
Lou
Verdict in Fatal Fiery Chrysler Crash Death of Child
Verdict in Fatal Fiery Chrysler Crash Death of Child
April, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Jury today delivered verdict attached.
Lou
15 Passenger Van Florida Crash That Killed 8 To Be Investigated by NTSB
15 Passenger Van Florida Crash That Killed 8 To Be Investigated by NTSB
April, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Tragedy Triggers Probe
“Probes into the accident in Glades County are underway by the Florida Highway Patrol as well as the National Transportation Safety Board, which sent two investigators to the scene.
Peter Knudson, an NTSB spokesman, said investigators will look at whether the unlit T-intersection set amid farmland had a history of accidents, whether the van’s safety features worked as they should have, the 18 occupants’ use of seatbelts and any factors affecting the driver.
The driver, 58-year-old Volsaint Marsaille, was among those killed in the crash. He was a longtime St. Lucie County school bus driver with a good record who had driven for the Independent Haitian Assembly of God for many years, his son-in-law Philippe Dorce said.”….
“Some insurance companies refuse to insure them because it’s so dangerous,” said Joan Claybrook, who headed the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration under President Jimmy Carter and is a past president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. Though Marsaille went through a stop sign and his vehicle had too many people on board, Claybrook said such vans have inherent safety issues that make them more prone to tragedy.
Claybrook and other safety advocates have pointed to numerous issues in the vans that make them more susceptible to fatal accidents, from the height and width of the vehicles, to the structural integrity of seats and seatbelt availability and quality. Older models are particularly maligned, lacking stability controls and tire pressure monitoring features of newer vans.
Federal transportation officials have warned about the potential instability of 15-passenger vans for over a decade. The NHTSA has warned colleges and church groups, among others, that overloading the vans increases the risk of rollover and makes the vehicles difficult to maneuver in emergencies. Officials also urge all occupants in the vans to wear seatbelts and all owners to check the tire pressure for every trip.
Some 521 people died in crashes involving 15-passenger vans from 2004 through 2010, according to federal statistics.” (Emphasis added).
See http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/safety-vans-questioned-wake-florida-crash-30098577
More Probes Needed
Nice that NTSB will investigate this crash. But who will investigate the agencies and companies that have let these, and many other, tragedies to continue without end? Where have the leaders of NHTSA, the NTSB, and the CEOs of the auto industry been? Have they had their eyes on the safety problems or the Revolving Door and maximizing profits in the next quarter?
NTSB counted 34,678 transportation fatalities in 2013. 32,718 deaths (94%) were Highway fatalities and 443 (1.3%) were Aviation fatalities.
See http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/data/Pages/Data_Stats.aspx
NTSB’s Statement of Net Cost for 2013 Operations was $104 million. * $53 million (51%) was for Aviation Safety.
* $30 million (29%) was for Surface Transportation Safety which included Highway (32,718 deaths), Rail (891 deaths), Pipeline (10 deaths), and Marine (615 deaths).
* $21 million (20%) was for Research and Engineering.
Taxpayers should be interested at this time in how their money is being spent on protecting their lives.
Strange Indifference to Highway Carnage Continues
With Americans continuing to die and seriously injured at the rate of several hundred each day, leaders including President Obama and Vice President Biden continue to be strangely indifferent. “President Clinton’s biological father died after being ejected in a car crash in the 1940s. As a teenage driver in the 1960s, Laura Bush struck and killed a family neighbor in a crash. President Obama’s father died in a car wreck in 1982. In 1972, Vice President (then U.S. Senator)Joseph Biden’s wife and infant child were killed in a car-truck collision. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, as a young Mormon missionary, was severely injured in a collision in France that killed another passenger.” See http://www.fairwarning.org/2012/09/a-strange-indifference-to-highway-carnage/ And https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/clock.php
How many more tragedies will be counted in the U.S.A. before the nation’s priorities are changed on behalf of the people?
Lou
Victims Lose Again to GM – First Safety Then Justice
April, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members: “This ruling padlocks the courthouse doors,” said Robert C. Hilliard, a lead plaintiffs’ lawyer. “Hundreds of victims and their families will go to bed tonight forever deprived of justice. G.M., bathing in billions, may now turn its back on the dead and injured, worry-free.”
The public needs to keep its eye on members of the Judicial branch as much as members of the Executive and Legislative branches of government.
Lou
5 Nursing Students Die of Crash Injuries Suffered by Heavy Truck That Did Not Stop
5 Nursing Students Die of Crash Injuries Suffered by Heavy Truck That Did Not Stop
April, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Think about the losses of the promising lives of these nurses — and the lives they would have gone on to save. See
Ask what might have prevented such tragedies. Safety groups have been working to prevent such tragedies. See petitionhttp://www.autosafety.org/safety-advocates-call-us-dot-issue-rule-requiring-crash-avoidance-technology-large-trucks
Watch videos of technologies by Mercedes and Volvo that might have prevented or ameliorated this crash. SeeVideos: Heavy Truck Emergency Braking (Mercedes and Volvo)
Ask what might President Obama do to prevent future tragedies that he has not done in 6 years in Office. Seehttp://www.fairwarning.org/2012/09/a-strange-indifference-to-highway-carnage/
Ask what we can do to produce the protection that Americans need and deserve but do not get.
Lou
