February, 2015
USA Today has an excellent Op-Ed on NHTSA’s Revolving Door.
It calls for closing the NHTSA Revolving Door.
Lou
January, 2015
NY Times Reports:“Buying a used car in the United States can be a dangerous proposition — if the vehicle has an unadvertised safety defect.
This month, Carlos Solis died after the airbag in a used car he bought last year from a Texas dealer exploded, sending a piece of metal into his neck. Mr. Solis, 35, was not aware when he bought the vehicle that its airbags could be defective and had been recalled, according to a lawsuit filed by his family on Friday….”
With no progress in legislation, consumers are left on their own to check whether a used vehicle has been recalled for a safety defect, by running their vehicle identification numbers through the federal safety database or on an automobile manufacturer’s website, or by purchasing a vehicle history report from a vendor like Carfax.”
January, 2015
NHTSA has published some good news on its programs over the years:
Saving an estimated 613,501 lives since 1960. See
“Lives Saved by Vehicle Safety Technologies & Associated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, 1960 to 2012 Passenger Cars and LTV’s” (DOT HS 812 069): NHTSA began in 1975 to evaluate the effectiveness of vehicle safety technologiesassociated with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. By June 2014, NHTSA had evaluated the effectiveness of virtually all the life-saving technologies introduced in passenger cars, pickup trucks, SUVs, and vans from about 1960 up through about 2010. The total number of estimated lives saved by these technologies and programs from 1960 to 2012 is 613,501.
So yes safety programs can save lives!
And we need to do more and better. See “Early Estimate of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities for the First Half (Jan-Jun) of 2014” (DOT HS 812 093): A statistical projection of traffic fatalities for the first half of 2014 shows that an estimated 14,950 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes. This represents a decrease of about 2.2 percent as compared to the 15,294 fatalities that were reported to have occurred in the first half of 2013. Preliminary data reported by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) shows that vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the first 6 months of 2014 increased by about 6.5 billion miles, or about a 0.4-percent increase.
You might think that President Obama might have thought this good news was worth mentioning in his State of the Union speech. Maybe next year…
Lou
January, 2015
Honda Fails to Report Deaths – Honda Fined $70 million Recently NHTSA (with Honda’s agreement) fined Honda $70 million for failing to report information on deaths involving Honda vehicles. See http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/2015/DOT-fines-Honda-$70-million And see: https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-withstandingmsg.php And see:http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/business/honda-fined-70-million-in-underreporting-safety-issues-to-government.html?_r=0
NHTSA’s failures to report such data by manufacturer to the public for more than 30 years deserves much more than a $0 fine. NHTSA can publish such data today! NHTSA can and should do better. Lou
January, 2015
IIHS publishes important real world data on Driver Death Rates.
See http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/Driver_DeathRates_sr5001_emb.pdf
Lou
January, 2015
Good article and documents athttp://www.twincities.com/crime/ci_27409517/closing-arguments-set-toyota-fatal-st-paul-crash
Lou
January, 2015
NY Times reports Honda hit with record fines of $70 million (2 fines of $35 million each) for not performing required reports of data on deaths and injuries to NHTSA for over a decade.
“It is the largest amount that the safety regulator has ever levied against an automaker. The penalty stems from the automaker’s failure to report 1,729 death and injury claims to the agency for the past 11 years, and its failure to report certain warranty and other claims in the same period.
“Today’s announcement sends a very clear message to the entire industry that manufacturers have responsibility for the complete and timely reporting of this critical safety information,” Mark Rosekind, the new head of the agency, said Thursday.” See
“Last year, NHTSA issued more than $126 million in civil penalties, which was a record. The agency says the total exceeded the total amount collected by the agency during its forty-three year history.
“These fines reflect the tough stance we will take against those who violate the law and fail to do their part in the mission to keep Americans safe on the road,” Foxx said.” See
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/01/08/honda-fine-nhtsa/21445701/
Bloomberg News reports an interesting contrast between GM and Honda that raises questions about the relative safety of the two automakers:
“GM, eager to demonstrate proactivity in the wake of the biggest recall in its history, disclosed 102 death and injury reports per 100,000 vehicles sold in 2014 through November. By contrast, Honda disclosed 2.4 reports per 100,000 vehicles sold over the same period. “
And Bloomberg further notes what may be further future actions:
“The Center for Auto Safety, a research group that has been tracking recalls and defects since it was founded in 1970, asked transportation regulators in October to refer Honda to the Justice Department for a criminal investigation. It cited a 2009 fatality and an August 2013 incident resulting in serious injury that weren’t included in Honda’s Early Warning Reports.” See
“The Center for Auto Safety responded to our inquiry:
“The Center for Auto Safety calls on the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into Honda violating NHTSA’s Early Warning Reporting Regulation. $70 million is too small a price to pay considering Takata airbags is one of the defects Honda failed to report under EWR. How many other deadly defects are concealed in the 1,729 death and injury claims not reported by Honda. The company must waive all statutes of limitations at the state and federal level over potential recalls or lawsuits arising out of defects concealed in the unreported claims.”
Open questions for NHTSA:
1. NHTSA has not yet responded to our inquiry as to whether its fines are tax deductible or not.
2. NHTSA has not yet responded to our request for a link to the media briefing it held today and recorded at taxpayer’s expense. It should be made publicly available.
Lou
