Category: Blog

Regional Recalls and Early Warning Failures Questioned by U.S. Senators Markey and Blumenthal


Regional Recalls and Early Warning Failures Questioned by U.S. Senators Markey and Blumenthal

October, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Contact: Eben Burnham-Snyder (Markey) 202-224-2742

 

Senators quiz NHTSA on Takata’s deadly exploding airbags, wrongheaded regional recalls, public reporting system non-compliance

 

WASHINGTON (October 15, 2014) – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) today expressed strong concern to America’s auto safety regulators that a regional vehicle recall system that sometimes only applies to certain parts of the country is risking the safety of drivers everywhere. The Senators use the example of the exploding airbags made by Takata and installed in many manufacturers’ vehicles that have been injuring and killing drivers and passengers since 2004 as an example of this patchwork recall system that risks the lives of American families.

 

Senators Markey and Blumenthal also said that the Early Warning Reporting (EWR) system employed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) may not be fully complied with by auto manufacturers. The Senators revealed that Honda had apparently failed to comply with the EWR system by not submitting complete quarterly reports about accidents that may be due to a safety defect, with one example of a publically-known 2009 death of an Oklahoma teenager where an airbag exploded having gone unreported in the EWR system, according to an analysis done by the Center for Auto Safety and shared with Senator Markey’s staff.

 

The two Senators today wrote David Friedman, the Acting Administrator for NHTSA, to ask him about the efficacy of the regional recall regime and compliance with the EWR system. That letter can be found HERE.

 

“Regional recalls that treat cars and trucks like they never leave their home makes no sense as a policy to protect American families,” writes Senators Markey and Blumenthal. “We believe that this practice risks the safety of those whose cars may not be registered in the states in which the recalls occur. This is because even if the vehicles are not actually registered in the particular states subject to the regional recall, they may nevertheless be driven there.”

 

About the potential noncompliance with the EWR system and Honda’s failure to report incidents, they write, “We are concerned that NHTSA has not made real efforts to determine whether automakers have complied with this requirement to alert the public to potentially deadly defects.”

 

The Takata airbags that have exploded in Honda vehicles have been the subject of various recalls and service campaigns, but the application of those recalls has been haphazard because of the largely regional nature of the recalls and voluntary nature of the service campaigns.

 

For example, on June 11, 2014, Takata told NHTSA that it would conduct a service campaign to repair airbags in “Puerto Rico, Florida, Hawaii, and the Virgin Islands, based on the high levels of absolute humidity in those areas.”  As the two Senators note in their letter, there is no indication how levels of humidity are documented, and why other areas of the country that also have high humidity were not included as part of the service campaign. The Senators cite several other examples of these geographic recalls that could leave consumers exposed to danger.

 

In July, Senators Markey and Blumenthal wrote to NHTSA [LINK] expressing their concerns that NHTSA was not enforcing compliance with the EWR system. In a previously-unreleased responsefrom, the agency says that “it is not possible to verify the accuracy of each piece of information submitted in early warning reporting” and that NHTSA enforces compliance “as appropriate”. In their response, NHTSA noted only two examples of such enforcement efforts – one in 2007, against motorcycle manufacturer Piaggio Group Americas, Inc., and a request for information sent to Ferrari that followed a letter sent by the two Senators pointing out that Ferrari had never submitted a single EWR report.

 

In March, following the recall of more than a million GM vehicles after dozens of deaths and injuries, Senators Markey and Blumenthal introduced legislation to ensure auto manufacturers provide more information about incidents involving fatalities to NHTSA. The legislation, the Early Warning Reporting System Improvement Act, would require NHTSA make the information it receives from auto manufacturers publicly available in a searchable, user-friendly format so that consumers and independent safety experts can evaluate potential safety defects themselves.

 

NHTSA Under Review, Deputy Administrator Unlikely To Be Selected, Growing Hope

NHTSA Under Review, Deputy Administrator Unlikely To Be Selected, Growing Hope

October, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

NHTSA Safety Culture The AP reports:“Transportation officials are reviewing the “safety culture” of the U.S. agency that oversees auto recalls, a senior Obama administration official said Friday. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been criticized by lawmakers and safety advocates for not acting aggressively enough regarding millions of vehicles with defective air bags or faulty ignition switches.

A special Transportation Department team is examining whether “we have the dial set correctly on risk management and our safety posture in general” throughout the department, especially at the safety administration, said the official, who asked that he not be named as a condition of briefing reporters…. Announcements related to the review are expected in the coming weeks, the official said. The White House is also expected to nominate an administrator to run the troubled agency within the next two weeks, he said.”

See http://www.pddnet.com/news/2014/10/us-official-auto-safety-agency-under-review-0

NHTSA Acting Administrator

And Reuters reports:“WASHINGTON — The acting chief of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, the top U.S. automotive safety regulator, is unlikely to be nominated for the job and a search is under way to fill the position, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

After a series of perceived failures at the administration, David Friedman, who has served this year as acting head of the agency, is not expected to be tapped by the Obama administration for the job, the source said….”

Rep. Fred Upton, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, on Monday said the agency needs to hold itself to a higher standard and called on new leadership.

“This can begin with the naming of a new NHTSA chief — a critically important safety post that remains vacant to this day,” Upton said in a statement.”

See https://bangordailynews.com/2014/10/28/politics/obama-administration-considering-leadership-change-at-auto-safety-agency/?ref=comments

House Energy and Commerce Committee Statement

“House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) said, “It is well past time for some agency introspection, and I am pleased to hear NHTSA is finally taking steps to review its culture and practices. Mistakes have been made by both companies and regulators, and as the agency holds automakers accountable, it needs to hold itself to the same – if not a higher – standard as those it regulates. NHTSA must be willing to learn from the failures of the past so we can improve safety. This can begin with the naming of a new NHTSA chief – a critically important safety post that remains vacant to this day.” – See more at:http://energycommerce.house.gov/icymi/following-committee-investigation-auto-safety-regulator-review-culture#sthash.Le3oRmXb.dpuf

And at  http://energycommerce.house.gov/icymi/following-committee-investigation-auto-safety-regulator-review-culture

The Big Unfolding Story 

The big unfolding story of DOT is its captivity.  Senator Blumenthal has unearthed the root of the DOT problems of life and/or death importance to the American people.  See

https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-blumenthalonnhtsa.php

And see https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/CFCV-MonthlyReport-March2014.pdf

For the first time in years, I can sense some hope for light at the end of the auto safety tunnel — sunlight with its wholesome disinfecting power.

Lou

 

Guardrails: And Now There Are 16 States


Guardrails: And Now There Are 16 States

October, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The NY Times, continuing to monitor progress in protecting American motorists, reports there are now 16 States that have taken positive guardrail safety actions.  New States are NY, TX, and ND.  See map of the 16 States and the 34 States currently Missing in Action at: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/28/business/virginia-plans-to-remove-suspect-guardrail-parts.html?mabReward=RI%3A8&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&region=CColumn&module=Recommendation&src=rechp&WT.nav=RecEngine&_r=0

So this updates my previous blog at https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-dangerousguardrails.php

Still unsatisfactory safety performance at DOT NHTSA and FHWA.

Where are the defective guardrails nationwide?  How many deaths have happened at defective guardrail sites?  NHTSA has data on the location of virtually all fatal crashes since 2002.  That is more than 400,000 American crash deaths in the U.S.A.

The big, as yet untold, story is how much more can be done to protect Americans, when we can free DOT, FHWA, and NHTSA from corporate captivity.

Lou

 

Defective Airbags and Defective Recalls Continue to Endanger All Americans – Part 2 – Honda


Defective Airbags and Defective Recalls Continue to Endanger All Americans – Part 2 – Honda

October, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The respected Executive Director of the Center for Auto Safety has asked for a criminal investigation of Honda by the U.S. Justice Department.  See attached letter to NHTSA detailing deaths and injuries in Honda vehicles that Honda failed to report as required by law.

Now NHTSA is once again on the spot to act to protect Americans.

See my earlier post on this NHTSA failure to protect by approving regional recalls that allow multi-State loopholes.https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-defectiveairbags.php
The persisting regulatory capture of NHTSA endangers every American. 
Lou

 

Airbag Tragedies, Public Safety Threat, And Questionable Governance of Crisis


Airbag Tragedies, Public Safety Threat, And Questionable Governance of Crisis

October, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Growing Alarm NBC News issued an alarming report of Toyota decision to disable passenger airbags and placing a sticker on the dashboard warning no one should ride in that seating position.  Watch video at http://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/bungled-air-bag-alerts-leave-car-owners-scrambling-answers-n231721

The Washington Post published a Front page report:

“More than 30 million cars and trucks nationwide are equipped with dangerously defective air bags, congressional officials say, a number that raises questions about whether the U.S. auto industry can handle what could become the largest recall in history.

Federal safety authorities have recalled only 7.8 million vehicles over the defect in a few states, a limited action that lawmakers said Thursday was vastly insufficient to address what they deemed “a public safety threat.”….  

“Driving her Honda Accord on Christmas Eve in 2009, Gurjit Rathore, a 33-year-old Virginia mother, was struck in the neck by pieces of an exploding air bag and bled to death in front of her three children, according to a lawsuit filed by her family.””  See

Investigations & Timelines
The NY Times reports

“Separately on Wednesday, Representative Fred Upton, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said he would ask government regulators to explain their handling of the Takata airbag recalls “to ensure that the appropriate steps are being taken to protect drivers and their families.”

The committee would “take a close look at this airbag issue and the timeline and scope of the recalls,” Mr. Upton said in a statement.” See

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/business/pressure-intensifies-for-recall-of-takata-airbags.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C{%221%22%3A%22RI%3A9%22}

In January, 2014, Reuters published a Report on Honda/Takata airbag problems:“Takata has acknowledged to U.S. safety regulators that it improperly stored chemicals and botched the manufacture of the explosive propellants used to inflate airbags. It also has conceded to Reuters that, in at least one case, it kept inadequate quality-control records, which meant that hundreds of thousands of cars had to be recalled to find what might have been only a small number of faulty airbags, a decade after they were made….In August 2009, U.S. safety regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration asked Honda why the second, larger recall, announced weeks after Parham’s accident, was not included in the smaller 2008 action. Three months later, NHTSA opened an inquiry into whether Honda and Takata recalled vehicles fast enough. By May 2010, NHTSA closed the probe, saying the companies had handled the recalls appropriately. In a statement to Reuters, the safety agency said it was satisfied with the responses of Takata and its automaker customers.” See  http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/13/us-airbag-takata-special-report-idUSBREA0C11620140113
On October 23, 2014, Safety Research & Strategies published a Report on the Crisis with a Timeline of who knew what, when.  “This week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a Consumer Advisory urging “owners of certain Toyota, Honda, Mazda, BMW, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Chrysler, Ford and General Motors vehicles to act immediately on recall notices to replace defective Takata airbags.” The announcement was accompanied by an agency web page with an incomplete list of vehicles under recall, as well as mistakenly naming 14 GM models equipped with Autoliv airbags that were once recalled in 2002. The recalls, investigations and complaints look-up functions on its website were inoperable. Toyota announced that it would disable defective airbags in some affected vehicles until replacement parts were available and Acting Administrator David Friedman told The New York Times concurred, under the logic that a vehicle with no airbag was better than one that might spray the occupants with shrapnel upon deployment.” 
Additional resources are available from Center for Auto Safety athttp://www.autosafety.org/campaigns/11
Governance Questions
People ask:
*  Who is responsible?
*  Why did this happen?
*  Why weren’t we told sooner?
*  What do I do now?
*  When will I be able to be safe?
*  When the NHTSA watchdog behaves as a lap dog for more than a decade, what is the public to do?
The American people deserve good answers.
Lou

 


Jury Rules for Crash Victim Against Toyota

October, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Insights into effects of defective seat belt design (two point belt) on a crash victim are described in a recent article.  And note millions of vehicles are still on the road with such unsafe seat belts.

See http://www.montereyherald.com/news/ci_26750228/jury-seat-belt-design-responsible-chelsie-hills-injury 

Lou

 

Senator Blumenthal on NHTSA


Senator Blumenthal on NHTSA

October, 2014

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Politico reports that former 5 term Connecticut Attorney General, now Senator Blumenthal sees NHTSA as follows:

“It really is a prisoner of a culture of capture … too close to the industry,” the Connecticut Democrat said of NHTSA. “The car companies have a responsibility here to support a national recall” as well as backing an overhaul of NHTSA.

“NHTSA ought to be all over this industry,” the senator said, noting that it’s potentially too small, but the culture also needs to change.

ABC News reported Saturday the Department of Transportation will conduct a review of NHTSA.

“If the public were aware of the lawsuits that were brought, if they were settled in open view … there would be much quicker, more vigorous action,” Blumenthal said.”

See http://www.politico.com/blogs/politico-live/2014/10/richard-blumenthal-change-government-auto-relationship-197646.html

I have been reluctantly coming to the same sad conclusion for years now.  NHTSA is no longer the regulatory agency I worked at to advance safety beginning in 1978 and retiring from in January 2007. Lou