Category: Blog

The CBS Tragic Fatal Crash That Killed 60 Minutes Reporter Bob Simon


The CBS Tragic Fatal Crash That Killed 60 Minutes Reporter Bob Simon

February, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Last year, in the foreword to the 2014 Car Book,  Clarence Ditlow, the Executive Director of the Center for Auto Safety wrote:

“The media recently focused on the fatal crashes involving Jacqueline Mars, the Mars candy heiress, whose 2004 Porsche Cayenne crossed the centerline and hit another vehicle; and Paul Walker, star of Fast and Furious, who was killed in a 2005 Porsche Carrera that veered off the road in a high speed crash.  Yet the media did not ask why Mars and Walker who could have afforded any vehicle did not pick a newer Porsche or another performance sports car with electronic stability control or lane departure control that might have prevented their tragic, fatal crashes. 

Most celebrities in America have agents to help them negotiate their contracts, run their finances and advance their careers.  Yet how many have an agent to select a safe car which will insure their career or life will not be cut short by a tragic car crash such as were Grace Kelley, Steve Allen, and James Dean.”

Ditlow notes that to prevent future tragedies companies should consider the following advice:

“CBS fits in the category of entities that should use the safest possible vehicles for employees and guests for whom it provides transportation.  The Lincoln Town Car was phased out in 2011.  Neither the 2011 or 2010 in which Bob Simon was riding had side curtain airbags, collision avoidance braking, or lane departure control.    The Town Car had side torso airbags only for the front seat and not for the rear seat where Bob Simon was riding.  There are any number of 2015 large sedans that have these features.  Side curtain airbags are now standard in 2015 cars which shows how out-of-date the Town Car is in safety.  The Town Car is the livery vehicle of choice due to its size, reliability and relatively low cost; not safety.  If status is a factor for companies like CBS, use Mercedes S-Class limos with all the above safety features.  No guarantee one will avoid all crashes but they will be less severe and injury will be mitigated.“

Lou

 

How Bob Simon’s Tragic Death Can Make Us All Safer


How Bob Simon’s Tragic Death Can Make Us All Safer

February, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

One of my most enduring early lessons learned when I first came to Washington in the late 1960s was that too often it takes a tragedy to make progress.

Today an excellent article by John Cichowski quotes safety advocates Clarence Ditlow and Jacki Gillan opening the question of how such tragedies can be prevented in the future.  That question is perhaps the best tribute to Bob Simon’s life.  See http://www.northjersey.com/news/new-york-tri-state-area/could-rear-air-bags-have-saved-bob-simon-1.1271812?page=all

USA Today’s Larry Copeland also wrote an excellent article that explored the injury problems of unbuckled people in taxis and the lack of laws requiring people in backseats to be buckled up.  See http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/02/13/no-seat-belt-violation-in-simon-crash/23354289/ Bob Simon’s life and tragic death can continue to do good for humankind forever.

Let us help make it so.

Lou

 

Takata Airbag Law Suits Being Consolidated before Republican Judge Federico Moreno


Takata Airbag Law Suits Being Consolidated before Republican Judge Federico Moreno

February, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Republicans heavily involved in Takata airbag recalls:

*  Former DOT Secretary Skinner, John Snow, Jeffrey Runge, Marion Blakey and others   See http://www.autonews.com/article/20150120/OEM11/150129984/takata-airbag-review-panel-members-named-by-skinner
*  Now a Republican Judge placed in charge of Takata airbag litigation.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_A._Moreno

*  And http://legalnewsline.com/issues/class-action/254860-airbag-recall-lawsuits-consolidated-being-sent-to-fla-federal-court?utm_source=wysija&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=LNL0327alert2

All very qualified to examine airbag safety defects from a particular political point of view.

Reminds me of the lyrics: The country is in the very best of hands. Watch  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwqPBlSxb-0
We can laugh (wryly) or cry.

Lou

 

Are Auto Company Payments of NHTSA Fines Tax Deductible?


Are Auto Company Payments of NHTSA Fines Tax Deductible?

February, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Your Life and Your Money

Recently I asked NHTSA about whether the $70 million Honda fine was tax deductible or not.  NHTSA seemed not to know – or care.

See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-nhtsadeductible.php

Now we read the following:“Carmakers are far from the only companies that can exploit loopholes that allow them to lower their tax bill by deducting fines, forfeitures and other payments related to wrongdoing. Although the tax law forbids deductions for criminal fines and penalties owed to the government, other kinds of payments — to compensate victims or correct damages — are eligible for a tax deduction.”  Seehttp://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/04/business/when-a-company-is-fined-taxpayers-often-share-the-punishment.html?_r=0

NHTSA officials now know for sure.   Will NHTSA care?  As long as it remains a captive agency without management changes at the top by Administrator Rosekind, NHTSA is not likely to care.

Lou

 

Too Big To Jail — Too Much Power To Do Wrong vs. Too Little Power To Do Right


Too Big To Jail — Too Much Power To Do Wrong vs. Too Little Power To Do Right

February, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
The System is Rigged

Corporations and government officials can commit omnicide.   And not only can they get away with it – but benefit from it.   What is the ordinary citizen to do when the system is rigged?

What are we to do when we read that Billions of dollars are being spent to elect Presidents, Senators, Members of Congress?  And countless dollars also are being spent to elect and influence Governors, State Legislators, Judges, Attorneys General?   And then there are the Revolving Doors.  Governmental officials at all levels and in all branches can be tempted and seduced by the prospect of a “better life” on the outside if they behave well on the inside.  Such is life on the inside and societal harm including deaths and injuries on the outside.
And then there are the infinite ways of bribery – legal and otherwise that are seldom caught and punished.  
President Obama’s Time To Do Right
In September, I wrote about President Obama’s and Attorney General Holder’s record of failures to protect crash victims  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-holderresign.php Today we read in an excellent NY Times article:“The entire structure of a corporation is intended to protect and insulate high-ranking executives, who are often shielded from knowledge of wrongdoing, even if they have tacitly approved it.”  See 
The GM Defect Case
Recall the GM Ignition Switch Defect case.  The latest status:

“In the fraught summer of 2009, the federal bankruptcy judge Robert E. Gerber proved to be a crucial figure in General Motors’ struggle for survival. With the economy in deep recession and the once-dominant automaker bleeding red ink, he presided over a bankruptcy process that allowed G.M. to remake itself — with the help of $49 billion from federal taxpayers — as a new company free of onerous liabilities.

On Tuesday, lawyers representing the reborn, and profitable, G.M. were back in Judge Gerber’s Manhattan courtroom seeking his assistance once again. They were asking him simply to uphold a key provision of the agreement, but the judge’s response is less certain.

The occasion was a day of oral arguments over whether a provision of the July 2009 agreement that shielded the “new G.M.” from most legal claims involving accidents before that date should be allowed to stand. The company is trying to shut down hundreds of lawsuits, many of them seeking class-action status, over a defective ignition switch that has been linked to hundreds of accidents and at least 56 deaths.”  See

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/18/business/judge-hears-arguments-over-gms-exposure-to-recall-suits.html?hpw&rref=automobiles&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well

So what is Judge Robert E. Gerber’s status?  Automotive News citing Reuters reports the judge announced his intent to retire. 

“NEW YORK (Reuters) — The New York bankruptcy judge overseeing part of the fallout from General Motors Co’s problems with faulty ignition switches will retire from the bench, but remain active in so-called recall status for at least a year, his court announced.

Judge Robert Gerber will assume recall status on Jan. 1, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York announced in a statement published late on Friday. Recall status allows judges who are technically retired to continue to serve.

Reuters reported earlier this month that Gerber was planning to assume recall status.”

Gerber will remain on the bench at least through 2015, according to the court’s announcement.”  See

http://www.autonews.com/article/20141117/OEM/141119858/gms-bankruptcy-judge-to-retire-remain-on-recall-status

Two types of ignorance: unconscious (absence of information) and conscious (in presence of information).

Will right be done in GM case?

Lou

 

Unsafe Guardrails Lead To Spending To Lobby State Attorneys General


Unsafe Guardrails Lead To Spending To Lobby State Attorneys General

February, 2015

Dear Care For Crash Victims Community Members:
A lost limb in a crash, a whistle blower, and a lobbying blitz.

See http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/13/business/troubled-guardrail-maker-goes-on-a-lobbying-blitz.html

 

Airbag Defects Recalled Again — Why?


Airbag Defects Recalled Again — Why?

February, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
More recalls announced by NHTSA.  NHTSA identified the following vehicle models:

“What vehicles are being recalled?

  • 2002-2003 Jeep Liberty and 2002-2004 Grand Cherokees (about 750,000 vehicles);
  • 2003-2004 Honda Odysseys and 2003 Acura MDXs (about 370,000 vehicles);
  • 2003-2004 Pontiac Vibes, Dodge Vipers, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Matrixes and  Toyota     Avalons (about 1 million vehicles, not all of which were sold in the United States)”

See  http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/2015/safety-advisory-01-31-2015

NY Times reports:

Toyota, Chrysler and Honda are recalling about 2.1 million vehicles with airbags that might suddenly deploy even when the vehicle is not in a crash after earlier recalls did not sufficiently address the problem. Federal regulators said replacement parts might not be fully available until the end of the year.”  Seehttp://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/01/business/vehicles-with-faulty-airbags-are-recalled-for-second-time.html?mabReward=CTM&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&region=CColumn&module=Recommendation&src=rechp&WT.nav=RecEngine&_r=0
The Why Questions
*  Millions of Americans in danger of airbags that deploy when they shouldn’t and by airbags that don’t deploy when they should.  Why?
*  The GM ignition switch victim compensation plan is now closed to any future victim or family who suffers a fatality or serious injury with airbags that did not deploy.  Why?   See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-deleteignition.php  and http://www.gmignitioncompensation.com/index  and currently only 50 deaths deemed eligible out of 338 fatality death claims made.  See http://www.gmignitioncompensation.com/docs/program_Statistics.pdf
*  Recalled vehicles may not be fixed for a year — or ever.  Why?
*  Recalled defective vehicles involve models on the roads for more than a decade.  Why?
*  Perhaps the biggest “Why?” question is: Why did NHTSA became more of a captive agency during the decade since the early 2000s?  Seehttps://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/CFCV-MonthlyReport-March2014.pdf
And how many more lives will continue to be lost needlessly until NHTSA is fixed?   Why won’t NHTSA be fixed anytime soon?  See Takata’s responses to airbag crisis at http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2015/01/20/takata-review-panel-includes-former-nhtsa-chiefs/22043355/  and at http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/18/us-autos-takata-lawyer-exclusive-idUSKCN0J22PP20141118
Bottom line: It’s political.
Lou