Category: Blog

The Priorities of Foundations Need to Improve for Americans


The Priorities of Foundations Need to Improve for Americans

February, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Nader asks large foundations to rethink priorities.  Nader notes the Center for Auto Safety:“One aviation safety group of long-proven merit, the Aviation Consumer Action Project, had to close down, while another, the Center for Auto Safety, has worked wonders but on a tiny budget.”  Seehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/ralph-nader/large-foundations-rethink_b_6648102.html

As usual, Nader is right on a subject of life or death importance.

Foundations have “sequestered” billions of dollars made, and tax sheltered, in America.  Yet here in America we are still struggling to get out of the Great Recession while foundations spend huge amounts of money elsewhere.   Just one example, in an interview in 2010, Melinda Gates was interviewed:Q. “Why don’t you direct more of your philanthropy toward the United States, where your foundation could create jobs for the unemployed, or try to solve the health care crisis? A. “As a foundation, first of all, you have to focus. But we absolutely do focus on the United States. We have three large programs: global health, global development and U.S. programs. About 20 percent goes to U.S. programs.”  See http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/magazine/24fob-q4-t.html

20 percent!  How do Americans make that “20 percent” as infamous as either Romney’s 47% or the 99% of Inequality in America infamy?
Since 2010, when fellow American Melinda Gates uttered that “about 20 percent”,  about 120,000 fellow Americans died of their crash injuries and about another 500,000 fellow Americans suffered serious crash injuries.  And as the latest NHTSA report shows the estimated value of societal harm in America now amounts to nearly a trillion dollars each year.  See http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812013.pdf
We who care for crash victims — and know that we can adopt a Vision Zero deaths and serious injuries goal for all new cars in a decade — need to ask:  Why?  And Why not?
For starters imagine closing the loophole in IRS rules that allow foundations to include foreign travel expenses as part of the foundations “charitable” expenditures.
American foundations need to be more patriotic.
And Americans need to do better demanding it.  Yes we can!
Lou

PS  Since I wrote this earlier, I realized I had underestimated the number of crash deaths since October 2010 and a reader sent me the following article by another colossal foundation spending big money made in America and tax sheltered in America but spent elsewhere rather than on Americans here in the U.S.A.  

Former mayor of NYC Bloomberg who did not have a Vision Zero Goal of crash deaths in NY city for years has “decided” to give $125 million over 5 years to improve road safety elsewhere around the world.  Seehttp://www.bloomberg.org/press/releases/bloomberg-philanthropies-global-road-safety-program-inviting-select-cities-countries-compete-funding-support/   And the Bloomberg programs sound like the programs President Coolidge and Secretary Herbert Hoover advocated in the 1920s.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/24P11.pdf It is as though fellow American Bloomberg never read Nader’s “Unsafe at Any Speed” that pointed out the need for auto safety technologies to be developed and applied.  Auto safety technologies, required by law, spurred by Nader’s work in the 1960s have now been estimated to have saved more than 600,000 American lives.  See http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812069.pdf

At least Bloomberg’s successor NY City Mayor De Blasio has set a Vision Zero Safety Goal for NYC.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-race.php

Hopefully, these fellow Americans will act more patriotically in the future and help build a safer America before spending more elsewhere all over the world.

The American people deserve better than they are getting.

Lou

 

Honda & NHTSA Fail to Report Crash Deaths


Honda & NHTSA Fail to Report Crash Deaths

January, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

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

And see: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/10/business/honda-in-japan-distances-itself-from-us-subsidiary-after-record-fine.html

NHTSA Fails to Report Honda Deaths – NHTSA Fined $0 

NHTSA regularly collects data in FARS about deaths associated with each automaker.   But NHTSA does not bother to summarize fatalities and publish the results by each automaker.  So how many people died of crash injuries involving occupants of Honda vehicles (not including data on Honda motorcyclists that is attached separately) in recent years?   Randy and Alice Whitfield of Quality Control Systems Corp. kindly provided such information.  They reported that in the years 2010 – 2013 the total number of Americans who died of crash injuries as occupants in Honda passenger vehicles was 6,280 people.
One particularly important thing to note about these statistics — that NHTSA has, but will not publish — is their regularity.  Year after year!
20101,594 2011  1,536 20121,593 20131,557
Why does NHTSA not publish the data on fatalities it has by automaker?
What holds NHTSA back?   NHTSA frequently publishes fatal crash data on involvement of alcohol, restraint use (buckled), speed, age, and gender of crash victims — but not by vehicle manufacturer.  See http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812032.pdf
Honda Motorcyclist Deaths 
Data on Honda Motorcyclists’ Deaths summarized from NHTSA files are attached for the years 1982 – 2011.  In 2011, the number of Honda motorcyclist deaths were 817, i.e., occurring at an average rate of more than 2 deaths per day. These data that NHTSA has failed to publish by vehicle manufacturer for decades are important to note.  They provide deadly evidence of NHTSA captivity since Reagan was elected President.  
If NHTSA had been regularly publishing such data by automaker, there would have been a market pressure on automakers to improve the safety of their products.

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

 

IIHS Report on Crash Death Statistics by Make and Model for 2008 – 2011 Model Year Vehicles


IIHS Report on Crash Death Statistics by Make and Model for 2008 – 2011 Model Year Vehicles

January, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

IIHS publishes important real world data on Driver Death Rates.

See http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/Driver_DeathRates_sr5001_emb.pdf

Also attached.

Lou

 

NHTSA Announces $70 Million Consent Order Agreed to by Honda


NHTSA Announces $70 Million Consent Order Agreed to by Honda

January, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

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 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/business/honda-fined-70-million-in-underreporting-safety-issues-to-government.html?emc=edit_na_20150108

USA Today reports:

“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

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-08/honda-fined-record-70-million-for-underreporting-injury-claims.html

“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

 

NHTSA Neither Knows Nor Seems to Care Whether its Fines are Tax Deductible


NHTSA Neither Knows Nor Seems to Care Whether its Fines are Tax Deductible

January, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
NHTSA neither knows, nor seems to care, whether its fines are tax deductible.  NHTSA has responded as follows to my previous post: “Your question regarding taxes is properly raised to IRS or Honda.”

Unsigned from public.affairs@dot.gov

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 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/business/honda-fined-70-million-in-underreporting-safety-issues-to-government.html?emc=edit_na_20150108

USA Today reports:

“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

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-08/honda-fined-record-70-million-for-underreporting-injury-claims.html

“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

 

NJ Firefighters Patent Way To Get Timely Lifesaving Information


NJ Firefighters Patent Way To Get Timely Lifesaving InformationTitle

January, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

One of our astute members sent me an excellent article on the work of two brothers working to invent software using their experience as firefighters to help save lives.  Seehttp://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/01/nj_firefighter_hopes_to_go_beyond_the_app_di_ionno.html

We must wish these brothers well.They have a lot of real world experience of the need to do better rescuing crash victims.  In 1997, I had the honor and privilege to work on this problem with leading researchers while I was at NHTSA.  In one of our papers published by NHTSA in 2005, we wrote:
“In future implementations, ACN and URGENCY information could save valuable time by alerting dispatchers that the crash severity information, e.g., rollover, near side impact, high Delta V, indicates heavy rescue teams might well be needed. In addition, since the ACN crash message includes the make and model of the crashed car, it is now
technically possible for heavy rescue teams to receive extrication information on the number of air bags, their location, and vehicle cut points specifically for the crashed vehicle – before arriving at the scene.”
But I must also point out that NHTSA and auto companies have been resistant – to say the least – for nearly two decades.  See research athttps://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/2005-urgency.pdf https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/urgency.php
Data on the 648,838 Americans who died of their crash injuries without being transported to any facility for emergency medical treatment over the years 1978 – 2011 are at https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/2012-00872-FATALITIES.PDF
NHTSA classifies these American deaths as “Not Taken”.  The NHTSA fatality data is provided by year and by State.
The American people would benefit by a system whereby automakers provided the information sought by these brothers.  The auto companies have the information.  NHTSA has the duty to issue rules requiring such a national system.
The public needs to address the question: What’s holding NHTSA back?
We can all do better than we have so far.  These brothers are trying to help us all.
Lou