Blog Archives - Page 80 of 115 - Care For Crash Victims

Hope for Safety and Justice in Guardrail Case Involving FHWA and Trinity Industries

April, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The NY Times reports:

“The Justice Department has begun a criminal investigation of the guardrail maker Trinity Industries and is examining the company’s relationship with the Federal Highway Administration, according to people with knowledge of the effort.

At least five potential witnesses, including one former federal highway agency official, have been interviewed in recent weeks by investigators, and at least one grand jury subpoena for documents has been issued, according to the people.

The Justice Department is seeking documents and other records related to a federal whistle-blower case that Trinity lost last October. In that trial, a jury found t he company liable for defrauding the government by failing to disclose design changes to its guardrail, called the ET-Plus.

The changes, made in 2005, are suspected of making the units more likely to jam when hit head-on, causing the metal rail to spear the vehicle. Trinity has said that its failure to disclose the changes was an oversight and that they did not affect the performance of the guardrail. The Justice Department investigation was first reported by Bloomberg News….”

“While the full scope of the criminal investigation remains unclear, federal agents have been gathering information regarding the interactions of Federal Highway Administration officials and Trinity before and after the agency was first made aware, in 2012, of the previously undisclosed changes to the ET-Plus.”

See http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/23/business/guardrail-maker-is-said-to-be-focus-of-us-case.html

This is what it may take to secure Safety and Justice: Criminal investigations of government officials.

In the Jeep fatal Walden case, NHTSA protected former NHTSA Administrator David Strickland from being deposed by plaintiff attorney Jim Butler.

See the attached denial of a request to depose Mr. Strickland and the attorney’s protest. Such obstruction of safety and justice by DOT must not be allowed to prevail over victims’ rights to information on government actions of life or death importance.

Lou

You Can Get A Reviewer’s Copy of Car Safety Wars Free

April, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

I just learned that as members you may be able to get a free Review Copy if you are with the media or an author. You need to mention your publication or web site and say you are considering a review of Car Safety Wars. You can send your request to the publisher atreviews@rowman.com.

I think it is important to get the word on safety out now. One reason is because deaths and serious injuries rise as more people drive during the Spring and Summer months.

Alternatively, you can use the discount coupon attached.

Note: I do not get any commission or remuneration – it is a good deed to get the word out on a massive safety problem that so much can be done to save lives. My Review is at https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/MonthlyReportforApril2015.pdf

Lou

NHTSA’s Administrator Rosekind Plans Summit with Auto CEOs and Meeting With Safety Advocates

April, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

In the Detroit News, David Shepardson reports:“The head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plans a summit this summer with the chief executives of major automakers that will address the auto industry’s safety culture in the face of 2014’s record-setting recalls.

NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind told reporters at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday in a roundtable discussion that he plans a meeting sometime around June….”

Rosekind plans other meetings, including an April 28 event in Washington on finding solutions to boost recall completion rates with automakers, safety advocates and others.”

See: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2015/04/09/nhtsa/25518561/

Lou

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.”

See http://www.autonews.com/article/20150421/OEM11/150429952/nhtsa-prepares-steps-to-speed-up-takata-jeep-recalls

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

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

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.

See http://www.ntsb.gov/about/Documents/PAR_2014_2013.pdf

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.

See http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/business/general-motors-wins-ruling-shielding-it-from-most-claims-over-ignition-flaw.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Lou