Category: Blog

Senate Hearing on NHTSA: Does Money & Power Corrupt & Endanger Us All?


Senate Hearing on NHTSA: Does Money & Power Corrupt & Endanger Us All?

November, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Who is responsible?

Takata, GM, Jeep, Toyota and other vehicle defects (including defective Trinity guardrails under DOT FHWA responsibility) occurred since the year 2000.  
So since 2000, who have been in positions of power to influence DOT NHTSA auto safety policies and practices?  Seehttps://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-lastdecade.php
If the DOT NHTSA has been driving under the influence of powerful interests since 2000, is it any wonder that deadly defects occurred and persist to this day?  Millions of defective vehicles are still on U.S. roads endangering us all.
Tests of NHTSA’s Corporate Captivity
*  Why won’t NHTSA simply publish crash fatalities and fatality rates by auto manufacturer each year?  GM alone is involved in about 10,000 crash fatalities each year in the U.S.A.
*  Why won’t NHTSA simply set a national goal to rescue crash victims and get them to definitive emergency medical care within the Golden Hour by 2020?  Within a decade? *  Why won’t NHTSA simply count unborn babies that die with their mothers in crashes?
Money and Secrecy Corrupt Safety & Justice

DETROIT (Bloomberg) — Confidential settlements over defective Takata Corp. airbags are sealing off relevant information that other victims could use to pursue injury claims.

The accords make financial sense for the settling parties, but Takata and other defendants, including Honda Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, get an extra advantage in keeping damaging information out the hands of outsiders interested in suing them.

The quick, secret deals — a cornerstone of product liability litigation across industries — help explain why, years after the first recalls, so much remains unknown about defects linked to four deaths in the U.S. The few cases filed have generally been resolved before victims’ lawyers acquired evidence.  Source:

http://www.autonews.com/article/20141117/OEM11/141119863/airbag-settlements-keep-details-from-other-victims-of-accidents

GM Victim’s “Compensation” Program – Keeping It $hort
GM Feinberg program extended for countless victims by just 1 month.  Automotive News finds victim that GM knew about but the victim did not know about the program.

“”I believe that the many efforts to reach all possible GM automobile owners, former owners and others who might have been adversely impacted by a defective ignition switch have been both comprehensive and effective,” Feinberg’s statement said.

“There will always be some individuals who do not receive formal notice and are generally unaware of available compensation.  But such individuals appear to be very few in number.”

In its statement, GM said: “We agreed with Ken Feinberg’s recommendation to extend the compensation program deadline. Our goal with the program has been to reach every eligible person impacted.”

One of them was Jamie Frei — a 20-year-old Marine when his Chevrolet Cobalt hit a tree north of Philadelphia in December 2006. The airbag failed, and he spent 29 days in a coma before waking up and learning how to walk again.

Page 130

Frei’s name appeared on pages 130 and 131 of the lengthy report detailing GM’s internal investigation into faulty ignition switches on his and 2.6 million other cars, though it was blacked out in the publicly released version of the report. His accident was denoted by a small diamond on a graph prepared for the GM executives who approved a recall in January.

On another page, his injuries were classified as “moderate.”

But Frei says he didn’t know GM had established a compensation fund for people injured or killed in crashes linked to the ignition switches until he was contacted last week by an Automotive News reporter.

“I had no idea,” said Frei, who eventually recovered enough that the military deployed him to Afghanistan. “I haven’t heard from [GM] since 2008.”

That’s when Frei agreed to a settlement with the automaker, court records show. Under the compensation program being administered by lawyer Kenneth Feinberg, Frei could be eligible for a much larger amount: $385,000, based on the length of his hospital stay.

Hints last week

Sunday night’s announcement came after Feinberg hinted last week that he is considering extending that deadline and doing more to contact potential victims who haven’t filed a claim, in response to requests last week from lawyer Bob Hilliard and safety advocate Clarence Ditlow. 

Hilliard has submitted numerous claims to Feinberg, whom he described as being fair in decisions returned so far. On Wednesday, Hilliard was hired by the family of Jean Averill, a Connecticut woman whose 2003 death was among the first 13 fatalities that GM linked to the defect. Averill’s family didn’t know of the connection until informed this month by The New York Times, which Hilliard called “stunning,” given that the family has lived on the same fruit farm for 10 generations.

GM said on Friday that it has since contacted Averill’s family, attributing the delay to the fact that the 2004 claim related to her crash had come from an insurance company. Spokesman Jim Cain said GM has worked aggressively to notify owners of the affected cars about the recall and the compensation fund, with the latest round of 5.3 million letters from CEO Mary Barra set to go out this week.

“Extensive effort” 

“It’s been a really extensive effort,” Cain said. “Our goal here is to reach everyone who has a potential claim to invite them to participate.”

Feinberg had received 1,851 claims, including for 202 deaths, and approved 67 of them as of Nov. 7.

GM also turned over its claim files to Feinberg, who has mailed forms as well, but Hilliard said Dec. 31 is too soon to shut people out.

“There’s absolutely no reason not to keep the fund open for another year. It’s just an arbitrary date,” Hilliard said.

“When I see a Cobalt at the gas station, I go up and say ‘Do you know your car’s been recalled?’ and nobody does.”  Source:

Elections have consequences for people, parties, and our future safety.
In this past week’s elections, money (highest ever) and message (or lack thereof) contributed to a shift in control of the Senate from Blue States to Red States.  The people who will die or suffer serious crash injuries are more likely to die in Red States.  (Fatality rates are generally higher in Red States than Blue States based on 2012 data).  See attached State rankings.
So if money can be outweighed by public safety interest and message, then the public interest may be advanced in safety with bipartisan support.  Based on Nader’s thoughts in his new book Unstoppable, neither Republicans, Democrats, nor Independents want to die of crash injuries at the higher rates found in Red States.
Lou

 

Pressure Builds on NHTSA and NHTSA Issues Special Order to Honda


Pressure Builds on NHTSA and NHTSA Issues Special Order to Honda

November, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Pressure Builds on NHTSA

The Des Moines Register Editors wrote:

“For 10 months, NHTSA has operated without a full-time director. David Strickland, the last man to hold the job, left the agency to work for a law firm that represents Chrysler. Three of his predecessors at NHTSA followed that same path to auto industry defender.

The Obama administration needs to get in gear and name a new director who has a strong background in consumer advocacy and who doesn’t see the job as a mere stepping stone to a more lucrative job in Detroit.”  See  http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/editorials/2014/11/03/registers-editorial-david-friedman-national-highway-traffic-safety-administration/18394701/

On October 15, 2014, the Center for Auto Safety petitioned NHTSA to refer the Honda airbag problem to the Justice Department for criminal investigation.  See attached and https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-hondacriminal.php

Today, NHTSA issued a Special Order to Honda to answer questions under oath.  See attached NHTSA documents:

Signs of hope for change — for the better.
Lou

 

GM Feinberg Extends Deadline for Countless GM Crash Victims — by 1 Month


GM Feinberg Extends Deadline for Countless GM Crash Victims — by 1 Month

November, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

After calls for extension of GM Feinberg “Compensation” Program by Sen. Blumenthal and others, a one month extension has been granted to crash victims.

See http://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/blumenthal-calls-on-general-motors-to-contact-known-victims-of-faulty-ignition-switch-extend-compensation-fund-deadline-for-families-that-just-learned-of-eligibility

And https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-11yearslater.php

And Press Release:GM Ignition Compensation Claims Resolution Facility Announces

an Extension of the Claims Filing Deadline

Kenneth R. Feinberg, the Administrator of the GM Ignition Compensation Claims Resolution Facility, announced today a one month extension of the claim filing deadline for submission of claims to the Facility.  The current deadline of December 31, 2014 has been extended to January 31, 2015.  Claimants, therefore, have an additional month to file their claims with the Facility. 

            In announcing this one month extension, Mr. Feinberg emphasized that the many efforts to notify all eligible claimants have been largely successful.  Notice has already been sent to almost four and one half million individuals targeting all current and prior owners of the eligible vehicles.   An additional one month extension is being implemented “out of an abundance of caution,” he stated and because supplemental notice is being mailed this week by GM to approximately 850,000 newly registered owners and to those individuals for whom a change in registration, change of address or corrected address has been received.  

             “I believe that the many efforts to reach all possible GM automobile owners, former owners and others who might have been adversely impacted by a defective ignition switch have been both comprehensive and effective.  There will always be some individuals who do not receive formal notice and are generally unaware of available compensation.  But such individuals appear to be very few in number,” said Mr. Feinberg.

            Mr. Feinberg added: “Because of our determination to provide comprehensive notice and give each claimant an opportunity to file a claim in a timely manner, we have decided to extend the filing deadline an additional 30 days until January 31, 2015.”

            Information about the Ignition Switch Compensation Claims Resolution Facility, including how to prepare and file a claim with appropriate documentation, can be found at http://www.gmignitioncompensation.com or toll free at 1-855-382-6463

                                                    ###

 

For media inquiries, please contact: Amy Weiss, Amy@WeissPublicAffairs.com

************************

Amy Weiss

Chief Executive Officer

WEISS Public Affairs

5309 Cushing Place, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20016

 

Takata, & Honda Airbag Scandals & NHTSA Scandal


Takata & Honda Airbag Scandals & NHTSA Scandal

November, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Obama Investigating NHTSA

On October 24, 2014, USA Today reported:

“WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior Obama administration official says the “safety culture” of the federal agency that oversees auto recalls is being reviewed.

The agency has been criticized for not acting aggressively enough regarding recalls of millions of vehicles with defective air bags or faulty ignition switches.

The Obama official says a team is examining risk management and the safety posture in general at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.”  See

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/10/24/nhtsa-recalls-airbags-obama-probe-culture/17851283/

And See October 2014 NHTSA Organization Chart attached.

Criminal Investigation SoughtOn Nov. 7, 2014 the NY Times reported:

“Three senators are calling for a criminal investigation of the airbag maker Takata after two former employees reported that it had carried out tests on airbags over a decade ago and found signs of defects, yet erased computer files containing data and threw away tested airbags.

“The Justice Department needs to get involved here and begin a criminal investigation,” Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, said in an interview. His comments came in response to an article in The New York Times on Friday that reported the employees’ disclosure….

The safety agency has been under pressure from lawmakers to order automakers to expand recent airbag recalls, some of which have been limited to regions with high humidity because Takata says moisture could play a role in the defect. But in the face of continued uncertainty over the cause of the ruptures, lawmakers have called for nationwide recalls.

In a partial response to those requests, Honda said on Thursday that it would now formally recall cars that the automaker had previously included in what it calls “safety improvement campaigns.” Chris Martin, a Honda spokesman, said that testing of some of the passenger airbag inflaters it had retrieved from dealers in areas with high humidity showed enough risks to warrant a formal recall.

Safety regulators have already referred to those campaigns as recalls, however, making Honda’s announcement largely moot. The automaker is still limiting the United States recall to 13 states and territories that it says “consistently experience high absolute humidity.”

Cars affected include certain model year 2001-6 Honda and Acura vehicles sold in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Saipan, Guam and American Samoa, according to Honda.” 

See http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/08/business/criminal-inquiry-into-takata-airbag-allegations-is-sought.html

Note: DC, MD, and VA are not yet included by Honda.

Grand Jury Investigation

On Nov. 13, 2014, USA Today reported:“A new death has been linked to Hondas with defective Takata airbags, and Takata says it’s under investigation by a U.S. grand jury..

Honda said Thursday it is expanding its Takata-related recalls after a driver in Malaysia died in an air bag-linked accident in July.

The latest Honda/Takata fatality brings to five the number of deaths possibly caused by faulty Takata bags. Honda says three definitely are linked, and is probing two others.

Takata confirmed in Tokyo Thursday that it is being investigated in the U.S. for possible criminal activities.

A federal grand jury in New York has subpoenaed Takata’s unit in the United States to produce documents on the air bag defects, a Tokyo-based Takata spokesman said.”  See

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/11/13/takata-airbags-honda-death-five/18963827/

Takata Executive Rehired On Nov. 15, 2014, Automotive News reported:

“DETROIT — This past summer, Takata Corp. rehired a retired engineering executive to oversee its embattled quality-control operation — an executive who is now at the center of a fresh controversy involving the company’s disclosures about its defective airbags.

Al Bernat, Takata’s former vice president of engineering who retired in 2012, returned as a full-time employee in July and is now senior vice president of quality assurance.

“We brought him out of retirement,” company spokesman Alby Berman said this week, “although he was doing some consulting with us even in retirement.”

Bernat’s return came shortly after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced June 11 that it would reopen its investigation into malfunctioning airbags in vehicles produced by Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Chrysler and Toyota.”  Seehttp://www.autonews.com/article/20141115/OEM11/311179950/rehired-exec-at-center-of-takata-storm

Hopefully some good will come from these investigations of all this tragic mismanagement in government and corporations.
Lou

 

GM Feinberg “Compensation” Plan – How Long Do Crash Victims Have To Just Apply?


GM Feinberg “Compensation” Plan – How Long Do Crash Victims Have To Just Apply?

November, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Thanks to the “generosity” of the GM Feinberg “Compensation” current plan, crash victims have been “given” an extension of 1 month until the end of January 2015 to just apply to be deemed eligible.  (Is there a connection between that date and the control of the Senate?)

Senator Richard Blumenthal has rightly stated: ““This incident illustrates the need to reconsider and substantially modify – if not eliminate – these arbitrary compensation fund deadlines. I commend and appreciate the spirit that is reflected in extending the deadline, but the practical effect is inadequate. Victims must have a meaningful choice between accepting compensation through the fund and pursuing their claims in court, and that choice can’t be made until the outcomes of the bankruptcy proceeding and the Department of Justice investigation are known. Right now, injured parties do not know enough about their legal rights or facts to make an intelligent or informed decisions. They will not know the full extent of their rights until the bankruptcy court decides whether to lift the liability shield that GM now unjustifiably hides behind.

“GM should either commit to waiving its bankruptcy shield in all pending legal actions, or permit all victims who qualify for the fund to postpone their acceptance of their compensation until the completion of the Department of Justice investigation into GM’s possible criminal actions.

“GM’s failure to notice the Averill family remains a shocking contradiction of whatever public trust the company was taking steps to rebuild. General Motors still must immediately provide proof that they have notified each of the families they know to have been harmed by their defect and direct Mr. Feinberg to make future extensions to the fund deadline if evidence is presented that there are other families, like the Averills, from whom information is being withheld.””  See

GM Feinberg Current Victim “Compensation” Plan
The NY Times provides important insight into the current plan.“The families of people killed or injured in crashes involving General Motors cars that had a deadly ignition switch defect will have an extra month to submit claims for payment under G.M.’s victim compensation program.

Kenneth R. Feinberg, who administers the compensation fund, has decided to extend the deadline to Jan. 31 to give more time to families who might not be aware of the program.

The extension comes a week after The New York Times revealed the identity of Jean P. Averill, who was killed in a 2003 crash of a Saturn Ion at the age of 81. Hers was the earliest fatality G.M. connected with the ignition defect. Until informed by The Times, the family had not known of the company’s compensation program or that it was eligible to receive a minimum of $1 million from the fund. At that time, the family said it had never been contacted by the automaker.”  See

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/business/deadline-extended-for-gm-accident-claims.html?mabReward=RI%3A10&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&region=CColumn&module=Recommendation&src=rechp&WT.nav=RecEngine&_r=0

And for a peek into how the GM Feinberg program currently operates:

“WASHINGTON — If this Monday is like almost every other one this fall, the death toll from General Motors’ defective ignition switch will rise.” See 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/16/business/-cold-numbers-on-gm-crisis-a-peek-inside.html?action=click&contentCollection=Business%20Day&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article

Crash victims will continue to be identified.  As will the efforts by GM to limit their payouts to victims – and the need to drastically improve safety for their customers and the public.

Too slowly, but the public is at least now learning what has been happening and who is responsible for all this preventable suffering.

Lou

 

Takata’s Tragic Airbag Mess – A Suggestion for A Safer Future


Takata’s Tragic Airbag Mess – A Suggestion for A Safer Future

November, 2014

Dear care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Takata’s Tragic Airbag Mess

Takata is going through a deservedly terrible time facing mounting financial losses and calls for Federal criminal investigation of tragic mismanagement decisions.  See excellent coverage athttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/08/business/criminal-inquiry-into-takata-airbag-allegations-is-sought.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
Suggestions For A Safer Future

I would like to offer a silver lining of hope for positive changes for safety that may result from this tragic current reality.  With first hand knowledge, I can say that Takata has excellent scientists and engineers of integrity that can, and are needed to, advance safety with airbag technologies in and outside of automobiles.  For examples, think pedestrian protection outside autos and child protection inside autos.

A recent NY Times series of articles on falls among the elderly reminded me of a long gone pioneering leader in the development of airbags – Dr. Carl C. Clark that I had the privilege to work with at NHTSA.

The NY Times reported on CDC statistics as follows:“The dangers are real. The number of people over 65 who died after a fall reached nearly 24,000 in 2012, the most recent year for which fatality numbers are available — almost double the number 10 years earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And more than 2.4 million people over 65 were treated in emergency departments for injuries from falls in 2012 alone, an increase of 50 percent over a decade. All told, in the decade from 2002-2012, more than 200,000 Americans over 65 died after falls. Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death in that age group.”

See http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/11/03/health/bracing-for-the-falls-of-an-aging-nation.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw%2C{%221%22%3A%22RI%3A8%22}http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/falls/adultfalls.html

I would add that an aging population is not just a problem in the U.S. but in Japan and other places around the world.

Eighteen years ago, and perhaps 300,000 American fall deaths of people over the age of 65 in the U.S. alone, the Baltimore Sun wrote an article about Dr. Clark’s prescient work.  

“As his grandchildren’s laughter filters through the screen door, Carl Clark talks about his commitment to cushioning life’s blows. Retired from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the 73-year-old scientist is still advocating interior air bags for airplanes, trains and school buses. He’s promoting ,, exterior air bags that spring from auto bumpers. He’s even invented a wearable air bag that inflates to prevent broken hips in the elderly.

Clark has spent 35 years urging the use of air bags — a concept he helped develop in 1961. Now, faced by widespread alarm over air bag-caused deaths, his biggest fear is that people will disconnect the devices he’s worked so hard to give them.”

A Safer Future Is Ahead – But Why Does it Take So Long?
I have worked for many years with good scientists and engineers.  I have also seen too many bad management decisions in both corporations and government agencies that have caused too much needless death and injury to the public.  
Ralph Nader, in his new book “Unstoppable” recommends 25 Reforms.  One is that we “Allow taxpayers the standing to sue, especially immunized governments and corporations.”
Then maybe it would not take so long to save lives and prevent tragedies for people and organizations – and we would create a Safer Future sooner.
Lou

 

While GM & NHTSA Fiddle Crash Victims Burn


While GM & NHTSA Fiddle Crash Victims Burn

November, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Too Little Too Late For Too Many Crash Victims

The NY Times reports:

“Nearly nine months after General Motors began recalling millions of its cars for a dangerously defective ignition switch, almost half of the vehicles still have not been fixed….

One of the unrepaired vehicles was a red 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt that crashed here the night of Oct. 9, killing its 25-year-old driver, Brittany Alfarone. Her mother, Dierdre Betancourt, said she had tried to fix the car twice, but two dealers turned her away….

Joseph Brini was driving behind Ms. Alfarone the night of the accident. He said it seemed as if the driver was wrestling with the car. “My feeling is she was trying to get some control,” he said. “The poor girl had no control of the car.”

The vehicle slammed into a guardrail and erupted in flames. The county medical examiner listed the cause of death as thermal burns, asphyxiation because of carbon monoxide and laceration of the liver, a condition that some auto engineering experts say suggests, based on Ms. Alfarone’s slight build, the airbag did not deploy.”  See

Automotive News reports: “A program to compensate victims of accidents caused by a faulty ignition switch in General Motors vehicles has received 1,772 claims for injuries and deaths, a 12 percent increase from the previous week, according to a report updated today. ”  Seehttp://www.autonews.com/article/20141103/OEM11/141109972/gm-ignition-switch-claims-rise-12-percent
How many more tragedies will Americans experience before this problem is responsibly fixed?
For past, present, and future crash victims will GM still shut the door on claims on December 31, 2014?
For additional Automotive News reference materials on the GM Recall see  http://www.autonews.com/theme/The%20GM%20recall
Remember that there are about 1,000,000 of these Sudden Loss of Power and Control (SLOPAC) defective vehicles still on the roads.   They continue to endanger not just their occupants but all Americans that they may crash into.
When will President Obama call a national conference on this public health problem at the White House?   Before or after more tragedies?
Lou