November, 2014
A long time safety advocate, Tom Kowalick, has created a petition and asks that our members consider supporting it. See https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/increase-ntsb-mission-statutory-power-and-funding-towards-enhancing-vehicle-and-highway-safety/DLKTqyWk
November, 2014
The Detroit News reports:
“Last week, a senior administration official told reporters NHTSA’s handling of the recall was “suboptimal.”
Foxx told The Detroit News on Friday that NHTSA’s handling of the recall “wasn’t flawless in the sense” that there were mistakes in press releases — some wrong cars and the wrong number of vehicles were listed in releases on successive days last week. And the website at which car owners could check to see if the vehicles were recalled wasn’t working for much of the week.
“That’s what was suboptimal,” Foxx said. He praised NHTSA’s “incredible track record” over the last decade.” See
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/foreign/2014/10/31/nissan-air-bag-recall/18234493/
So what was this praiseworthy “incredible track record” of NHTSA over the past decade of Bush/Obama?
Way back in August 2014, (about 9,000 crash deaths ago) NHTSA reported that over the past decade nearly 350,000 Americans died of crash injuries. See attached NHTSA report also available at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812055.pdf
November, 2014
Justice for Crash Victims
“Candice Anderson received the bittersweet news Monday in a Texas courtroom, fighting back tears, and her arm around the mother of the boyfriend she had felt responsible for killing in a car crash 10 years ago.
The judge cleared Ms. Anderson in the death of the boyfriend, Gene Mikale Erickson, even though she had pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide in the case years ago.
Ms. Anderson, 21 at the time of the crash, was driving her car when she inexplicably lost control and crashed into a tree. Mr. Erickson, her passenger, died at the scene, and Ms. Anderson has been racked with guilt ever since.
In getting her record cleared, Ms. Anderson benefited from an extraordinary — and long delayed — admission by General Motors, which on Monday for the first time publicly linked Mr. Erickson’s death to an ignition switch defect in millions of its small cars….”
“Ms. Anderson’s Saturn Ion was among the cars equipped by G.M. with the defective switch, which can cause a loss of power, disabling power brakes, power steering and airbags. At least 35 deaths have been linked to the defect, which went unreported by G.M. for more than a decade.
In May 2007, five months before Ms. Anderson entered her guilty plea, G.M. had conducted an internal review of the crash and quietly ruled its car was to blame, but never let Ms. Anderson or local law enforcement officials know.
After the crash on Nov. 15, 2004, Ms. Anderson’s parents liquidated their 401(k) to retain a lawyer to defend her. While a deal with prosecutors spared her jail time, she was on probation for five years and paid more than $10,000 in fines and restitution.” See
November, 2014
Press Release from Senator Markey:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Eben Burnham-Snyder (Markey) 202-224-2742
Markey Statement on Honda’s Nationwide Takata Airbag Replacement Program
NHTSA should require all companies to do the same, notify all customers
WASHINGTON (November 17, 2014) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who has called for a nationwide recall of the deadly, defective Takata airbags, today released the following statement regarding Honda’s unpublicized plan to allow customers nationwide to replace their airbags, not just the customers in the regional recall zones. Senator Markey is a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and this news was reported first by AP.
“Our highway safety agency, not Honda, should have been the first to call for this nationwide replacement of deadly airbags. NHTSA should require a nationwide recall, and should require Honda and other affected car companies to immediately announce mandatory nationwide recalls to protect American drivers.
“Three of the four known deaths that have occurred from these deadly airbags happened outside of the regional recall boundaries, which prove that this haphazard geographic safety regime doesn’t work. It’s time to send this regional recall policy to the junkyard, and protect all drivers on America’s roads.”
November, 2014
Bloomberg interviews Ralph Nader:http://www.bloomberg.com/video/ralph-nader-automakers-should-ve-caught-bad-air-bags-BGtvtqyBSEmXlu7BwHx3HA.html
Lou
November, 2014
Busy times in the difficult struggle for good over evil.
NHTSA Authority
“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
“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
“• 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
November, 2014
Nearly one year ago we met for the first time at the beginning of a NHTSA led FICEMS public meeting. I introduced myself and asked about the prospects for positive changes for safety at NHTSA. You smiled broadly and said “I am happy.” I returned to my seat to await my 5 minute opportunity to speak with a deep sense of disappointment.
Here we are today, nearly one year, 30,000 crash deaths, and more than 100,000 serious crash injuries, later. After regularly emailing you all my blog posts and reports and my petitions only to be unanswered by NHTSA, I sadly regret to note that I have tried to inform you of the public’s safety needs and potential positive actions you could take.
Little did I know at that time that Administrator Strickland was about to resign and take a job with the corporate law firm Venable, that has done work for Chrysler, leaving you as Acting NHTSA Administrator. His resignation came just after a questionable agreement with Chrysler on the Jeep Recall for gas tanks exploding in fiery crashes.
This week you may be testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee facing many difficult questions that probably will not make you “happy” — nor anyone else happy. I say this not in a sense of gloating, but in a deep sense of regret that my citizen efforts have not been sufficient to avoid this state of affairs for the American people. “Told you so.” are bitter words of disappointment to express. I wish I were in a position to express better words to say such as “Bravo! Job well done!”
As my mother taught me “Next time better.” Hopefully, in your remaining days at NHTSA you can do better. The American people certainly need you to do better. Many more lives and livelihoods depend on it.
Lou
