Category: Blog

Volvo On Track To Vision Zero Crash Deaths in 2020 – Where is the U.S. Vision?


Volvo On Track To Vision Zero Crash Deaths in 2020 – Where is the U.S. Vision?

December, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Safety progress from Volvo reportedly continues. “Such technology already builds on the active safety systems that debut in the new XC90, in particular the City Safety function that can detect, warn and auto-brake the car if sensors detect an oncoming collision with a cyclist. The Swedish firm also says it is on track with plans to have nobody killed or seriously injured in its cars by 2020.

Mayor De Blasio may achieve Vision Zero in NYC too.  Seehttp://www.nyc.gov/html/visionzero/pages/home/home.shtml
Imagine President Obama setting a Vision Zero Goal for the nation to achieve by 2024.  The new NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind could propose such a goal for the President to take as an Executive Action.
Now that would be a worthy subject for the President’s State of the Union Speech to Congress with crash victims in the gallery.   That would be better than the gallery visitor Mary Barra seated with Mrs. Obama last year as the last Administrator was going through the NHTSA Revolving Door.
Again we must President Obama to set a worthy national safety goal of Vision Zero on the grounds that “where there is no vision – the people perish”.
Lou

 

Will VP Biden, NHTSA Administrator Rosekind, and President Obama Set A Vision Zero Goal?


Will VP Biden, NHTSA Administrator Rosekind, and President Obama Set A Vision Zero Goal?

December, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

VP Biden will probably be at the State of the Union Address.  Will this article on crash deaths in Delaware be cited by President Obama announcing a Vision Zero goal for crash deaths in the U.S. by 2024?“With two weeks to go in the year, traffic deaths on Delaware roads are up 23 percent over the same period in 2013, according to state data.” See  http://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/local/delaware/2014/12/19/delaware-traffic-deaths/20635885/

Two years ago I co-authored an article with Ben Kelley published by Fair Warning and other publications noting a “Strange Indifference to Highway Carnage.”  We called attention to the family tragedies suffered by VP Biden, President Obama, President Clinton, President George W. Bush, and presidential candidate Mitt Romney.  All of whom suffered family tragedies of fatal car crashes.  See http://www.fairwarning.org/2012/09/a-strange-indifference-to-highway-carnage/
Today we have a new NHTSA Administrator Mark R. Rosekind who also suffered a family car crash tragedy – losing his father to crash injuries in a fatal crash.    Since the publication of “A Strange Indifference” another 60,000 Americans have died of crash injuries in the U.S.A.  Another nearly 250,000 Americans suffered serious crash injuries.  And the crash losses, since publication in September 2012, are now valued at nearly $2 trillion in the U.S.A.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”  See Proverbs 29:18
Lou

 

Crash Victims Lose in America’s Legal System


Crash Victims Lose in America’s Legal System

December, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members: 

America’s broken legal system denies crash victims justice and denies all Americans safety.  Money is at the root.

The NY Times published an insightful report on the plight of crash victims.  As you read the NY Times article keep in mind the DOT Policy Guidance valuing a statistical life at $9.1 million (copy attached).   See NY Times article at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/30/business/victims-of-gm-deadly-defect-fall-through-legal-cracks.html?ribbon-ad-idx=5&rref=business&module=Ribbon&version=context&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Business%20Day&pgtype=Blogs

The NY Times Editorial Board addressed the need for reform as one of its top 15 issues of 2014. 

“Vehicles of Mass Destruction

Deadly safety problems in cars made by General Motors, Honda and others exposed a deeply flawed auto safety system that Congressneeds to reform. Lawmakers have expressed outrage about failures by the car companies and safety regulators but so far have passed no laws to make prevent more such negligence or worse.”

See http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/28/opinion/torture-race-marijuana-and-12-other-big-issues-of-2014.html?ref=opinion

We really can and must do better.
Lou

 

Chrysler To America: Drop Dead


Chrysler To America: Drop Dead

December, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Another example of corporate irresponsibility brought about by government failure to protect Americans for a decade.

NY Times reports:

“Chrysler has told federal safety regulators that it would not help thousands of consumers whose recalled Jeeps were too rusty to be fixed for a fire hazard, even though regulators have said that the failure to do so would be a “great concern.”

Chrysler informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this month that it would repair only structurally sound vehicles and that it would not pay for repairs to vehicles that were too rusty or had collision damage in the rear, a Chrysler spokesman, Eric Mayne, wrote in an email on Sunday.

The refusal sets up another confrontation between the automaker and federal regulators in what has already been a contentious issue.

The government contends that those vehicles, which have gas tanks mounted behind the rear axle, are prone to deadly fires in rear-impact collisions. The controversial repair suggested by Chrysler and approved by the safety agency involves putting a trailer hitch on the back of the vehicle. Trailer hitches are typically used for towing, and have never been seen as safety devices.

Chrysler has told N.H.T.S.A. it may not be possible to repair 3 percent to 6 percent of the 1.6 million Jeeps. That would be 48,000 to 96,000 vehicles, although historically it would be extremely unusual for every owner to respond to a recall notice….”  

“Under federal safety regulations, the safety agency has the authority to require an automaker to buy back recalled vehicles if it cannot fix the safety problem, said Allan J. Kam, a safety consultant from Bethesda, Md., who was a senior enforcement lawyer for the agency before retiring in 2000.

But automakers are not required to fix recalled vehicles free — or replace them — if they are older than 10 years, he said.”  See

This one year after former NHTSA Administrator David Strickland made the deal with Chrysler and then left through the Revolving Door to join Venable a lobbying company.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-unfixedjeeps.php
America:  We have a safety inequality problem right here in the U.S.A.  Safety for the money and power of corporations is more important than the safety for people’s lives. Lou

 

Congressional Blog on Recalls, Deaths, and Blame


Congressional Blog on Recalls, Deaths, and Blame

December, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Michael R. Lemov, an attorney with a long history of safety work has written a blog for the Hill.  His article “50 million cars recalled, hundreds dead, who is to blame” notes the role of Congress.

“Yet there is another co-conspirator that also has “shared culpability” for the General Motors, Toyota, Honda and other botched recalls, such as Chrysler Jeep’s  potentially flammable gas tanks. 

That party is the finger- wagging Congress itself, specifically, the House and Senate Appropriations committees.  They have starved the federal safety agency for staff and funding for decades. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigations (ODI), the office responsible for policing and correcting safety defects, is funded at about $10 million a year to oversee the 265 million cars now on the roads in America.  It has about 60 professionals, including engineers and investigators, assigned to the job. Its staff and expertise are simply no match for the skills and size of the car companies and particularly the complex, computerized cars with new technologies now coming off the assembly lines.  And NHTSA’s $10 million congressionally-authored budget for the defects office has remained virtually the same for a decade.

The underfunding by Congress insures that the safety agency will be slow, incompetent and subject to halfway deals with the car companies in order to attempt to comply with its huge responsibilities.““Lemov is the author of the forthcoming book, “Car Safety Wars:  100 Years of Technology, Politics and Sudden Death” (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press/Rowman& Littlefield) He was formerly chief counsel of the House Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Investigations subcommittee.”

See http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/technology/225611-fifty-million-cars-recalled-hundreds-dead-who-is-to-blame

Disclosure:  I have done fact checking for Mr. Lemov’s book and in the process I learned a lot about safety I did not previously know.
Lou

 

Correction and Addition: Safety Inequality in America


Correction and Addition: Safety Inequality in America

December, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Correction:  Thanks to one of our members, a typo of mine was caught – so second ad at Super Bowl costs $4.5 million – not billion.  
Addition:  And this member added some valuable information.“Roughly every 15 minutes someone dies in a motor vehicle crash.

Roughly every 15 minutes 4 people are seriously injured in an automobile crash.

That means that during a roughly 4-hour Superbowl presentation, 16 people will die and 64 people will be seriously injured.  I read somewhere that each American has roughly 5 close family contacts.  If one were to consider those, nearly 500 Americans will be impacted by death or serious injury during the Superbowl (which focuses its advertising on automobiles and beer drinking).”

That’s from a member who has been to more crash scenes than I have.  In a way, I am glad I made that typo.  Back to the original article.
An excellent article in Automotive News points out the plight of crash victims who own older vehicles — another example of Safety Inequality in America.  

““It’s a difficult problem,” said Clarence Ditlow, director of the Center for Auto Safety in Washington. “If you look at the older vehicles, the recall rate can drop to less than 50 percent.”

More than 17 million U.S. vehicles have been recalled for potentially defective Takata inflators, according to Reuters. According to a government analysis of recalls from 2000 through 2008, about 65 percent of recalled cars each year get fixed within 18 months of the recall.

So if just 65 percent of the Takata-related vehicles are fixed, that would leave some 6 million or more vehicles on the road with potentially explosive inflators that could send deadly shrapnel at drivers and passengers.

For years, Ditlow said, he has suggested a law requiring dealers to complete all recalls before selling a used car. In private transactions, the buyer would have to complete the recall before registering the vehicle.”

See http://www.autonews.com/article/20141222/OEM11/141219835/older-vehicles-can-escape-recalls-nets

This year, as in many of the past 40 years, the citizen auto safety group that has done the most to protect all Americans from crash injuries is the Center for Auto Safety.  See http://www.autosafety.org/

Inequality of Financial ResourcesYear after year, a small group has struggled on behalf of crash victims (all of us) against irresponsible actions by NHTSA and the auto industry.  It has been, and continues to be, a struggle of very limited citizen financial resources vs. nearly a Billion dollar “safety” agency + a Trillion dollar industry.   See http://www.nhtsa.gov/Laws+&+Regulations/NHTSA+Budget+Information andhttp://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2014/12/u-s-auto-industry-generates-record-1-1-trillion-in-2014-sales/

The inequality of financial resources can be recognized by the fact that the Center for Auto Safety annual budget is a small fraction of the cost of just one 30 second Super Bowl ad of $4.5 million this year. See http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2014/12/automakers-spending-big-money-to-maximize-exposure-with-super-bowl-ads/

Note that in the corporate world, the auto industry funds spent on Super Bowl ads support a violent and injurious sport to Americans.

Moral Resources
In the human world, the small amount of citizen funds donated to the Center for Auto Safety support life saving work of enormous moral value.   In the world of “right makes might” the Center for Auto Safety has often carried the day on safety issues.  It has done so with hard work and expertise: day after day, week after week, and year after year.  It has won battles in the courts of public opinion, courts of law, and the legislative and executive branches of government.  
Unfortunately, in the world of might makes right, too often moral force is not enough.
Help Balance the Safety Inequality
In the USA, more than 3.6 million Americans have lost their lives to crash injuries.  Imagine if just one family member of each of those people killed donated $1 to the Center for Auto Safety.  It would be less than the price of just one Super Bowl ad.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/clock.php In the USA, more than 688 million Americans have suffered crash injuries.  Imagine if just one family member of each of those people injured donated $1 to the Center for Auto Safety.  It would be less than the price of just 150 Super Bowl ads.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/clock.php In the USA today, nearly 100 Americans lose their lives to crash injuries, another 400 suffer serious crash injuries, and these losses are valued by DOT at $1 Billion each day.  Imagine if just one family member of each of those people killed or seriously injured donated $1 to the Center for Auto Safety.  Over one year It would amount to $182,500.  It would be about the price of 1 second of just 1 Super Bowl 30 second ad.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/clock.php
We members of the Care for Crash Victims Community can do our part at this time of moral and financial giving and donate to the Center for Auto Safety at http://www.autosafety.org/

Lou

 

NHTSA Authority, NHTSA Nominee, AZ Attorney General Sues GM, A Safer Future?


NHTSA Authority, NHTSA Nominee, AZ Attorney General Sues GM, A Safer Future?

November, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Busy times in the difficult struggle for good over evil.

NHTSA Authority

NY Times editorial notes “Three Bills to Curb Corporate Wrongdoing”:“When it was learned this year that General Motors had long failed to notify regulators and the public about fatal ignition-switch defects, theoutrage in Congress was bipartisan. Recent reports in The New York Times that the Japanese manufacturer Takata hid deadly airbag defects are also sure to inspire rebukes from members of both parties. Takata has rebutted the reports, but lawmakers have appropriately scheduled a hearing for Thursday and called for a criminal inquiry by the Justice Department.…new laws are needed to deter corporations from covering up safety defects and punish those individuals and companies that do. Three bills introduced by Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut and a former state attorney general, would cover many of the prominent issues.”  See http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/opinion/three-bills-to-curb-corporate-wrongdoing.html?emc=edit_tnt_20141119&nlid=37926955&tntemail0=y
NHTSA Nominee Mark R. Rosekind, Currently of NTSB
Reuters reports:

“According to the NTSB’s biography of Rosekind, he is “one of the world’s foremost human fatigue experts” and a founder of Alertness Solutions, a consulting firm that specializes in fatigue management.

Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, said he was surprised the nominee didn’t have a background in auto safety.

“Given the GM ignition switch and now Takata I would have expected someone with more of a hands-on experience in vehicle safety,” Ditlow said.

Senator John Thune, the top Republican on the committee that will consider the nomination, said he looked forward to hearing Rosekind’s “plans to address the rising number of motor vehicle safety recalls.”

See http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/19/usa-autos-nhtsa-idUSL2N0T931D20141119

AZ Attorney General Sues GM“The attorney general of Arizona said on Wednesday that the state had filed suit against General Motors, claiming that the automaker had defrauded the state’s consumers of an estimated $3 billion…. “In filing suit, Arizona has broken from a group of 48 state attorneys general that has been pursuing a multistate investigation into G.M. for its handling of the ignition-switch defect. The state had been on the executive committee of that multistate inquiry, led by South Carolina and Ohio.

“We’re proceeding with our own suit because it’s the best way to protect the citizens of Arizona,” Attorney General Thomas C. Horne, a Republican, said in an interview. “General Motors represented that it was taking care of the safety of its cars, and in fact there were serious defects that it did not disclose to the public for years.”  See

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/business/arizona-sues-gm-for-3-billion-over-recalls.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Who Will Win, What, Where, How, Why & When? Congressional Leaders Boehner and McConnell wrote about their Republican goals as reforming:

“• Excessive regulations and frivolous lawsuits that are driving up costs for families and preventing the economy from growing;

• An antiquated government bureaucracy ill-equipped to serve a citizenry facing 21st-century challenges, from disease control to caring for veterans;”  Seehttp://online.wsj.com/articles/john-boehner-and-mitch-mcconnell-now-we-can-get-congress-going-1415232759

For crash victims, past, present, and future, the answers may be found following the money.  About $4 billion was spent in the 2014 elections.
Let’s remember the lesson that “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
The next two years appear to be a tipping point in the struggle for a Safer future.
Lou