Category: Blog

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.

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.”

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

See AP Report by Joan Lowy at

BMW announces at the Paris Auto Show a potentially life saving system that was developed by NHTSA in prototype form in 1997.  Landmark papers on URGENCY Algorithm work that I had a role in are available at:  https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/urgency.php“BMW Assist eCall and TeleService. The new BMW X6 is equipped with the BMW Assist eCall system and TeleService including a 10 year subscription. The system relays important information to the BMW Call Center in the event of a crash, such as vehicle position (accurate to within feet), chassis number, vehicle model, vehicle color and data from the onboard sensors. The system also detects how many people are travelling in the vehicle, which airbags were activated and the intensity of the impact. Thanks to the company’s ground-breaking Urgency Algorithm, the system also uses data from the vehicle’s crash sensors to assess and transmit the likelihood of severe injury. This makes it easier to supply first responders with critical information in a timely fashion.” See http://www.autoblog.com/2014/10/02/2015-bmw-x6-keeps-it-weird/

The American people deserved to have this safety technology protecting them more than a decade ago.  Political influence led by GM has prevented NHTSA from setting standards for the use of this safety technology for more than a decade.  This technology has the potential of improving emergency medical care and saving perhaps 20 percent of the seriously injured crash victims from death and disability.  

But the control of the regulatory process by GM and other auto companies prevented Americans from having such protection here in the U.S.A.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/CFCV-MonthlyReport-March2014.pdf

Countless lives have been lost and diminished by this political influence and control over government programs – which continues to this day over NHTSA and CDC.

Lou

An excellent article describes tragedies.  See “Mom Takes on Truckers After Highway Wreck Kills Daughters” at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-01/mom-takes-on-truckers-after-highway-wreck-kills-daughters.html

Sorry I missed this until now, but the House Energy and Commerce Committee has issued a Report with documents:

Two articles are at 

Lou

Growing Public Information   The NY Times publishes in one place links to its many landmark articles on the scandal so far.  Seehttp://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/19/business/crisis-in-gm-auto-safety.html?mabReward=RI%3A5&action=click&contentCollection=Business%20Day&region=Footer&module=Recommendation&src=recg&pgtype=article

Timeline   1.  In September 2013, GM settled Melton case for an undisclosed amount.  If it was for $5 million, was the GM Board informed?  See http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/05/18/business/gms-ignition-problem-who-knew-what-when.html?action=click&contentCollection=Business%20Day&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article

2.   January 2014, GM Chair Daniel Akerson and NHTSA Administrator David Strickland resign.

3.  September 2014, NHTSA Deputy Administrator Friedman tries unsuccessfully to defend NHTSA’s trail of failures to protect Americans before a Senate Commerce Committee Hearing.

4.   September 16, 2014 – “U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a Detroit News interview the White House is getting closer to naming a new chief to run the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.”   See http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140916/AUTO01/309160098

6.  What may be the most important recent article is this week’s Automotive News article “Lawyers reaching for in-car data” – or more accurately and comprehensively telematics data.  “Information gathered by vehicle telematics systems such as General Motors’ OnStar, Ford’s Sync, BMW ConnectedDrive and others is garnering increased attention from lawyers who see the data as a puzzle piece in building court cases. 

See http://www.autonews.com/article/20140914/OEM11/309159952/lawyers-reaching-for-in-car-data The current reality is that GM vehicles are in 10,000 fatal crashes each year in the U.S.   About 7,000 are occupants of the GM vehicle and about 3,000 are persons killed in crashes with a GM vehicle.

As I have written, what GM and NHTSA have known since 2007 suggests the problems are bigger than the public knows.  Just the number of airbag non-deployment crashes analyzed by GM using OnStar data — and published by NHTSA in 2007 are alarming.  

The evidence continues to grow.   When will we reach a tipping point?

Will there be a settlement that involves just money?  Or will there be a settlement that results in fundamental safety changes in both GM and NHTSA for the better?

Hopefully this will result in a substantial step toward meeting Vision Zero goals for the nation, GM, and all auto companies.

Lou