No Accident

There is a hard core of campaigners for vehicle safety in the U.S. – railing against the conditions that enable a daily toll of nearly 100 highway fatalities in this country. Within this community of individuals and organizations there are no references to traffic accidents, only crashes.

I recently ran afoul of one of the most outspoken leaders of this fragmented movement, Candace Lightner. Candace is president of WeSaveLives and founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Candace expressed her displeasure with me after I referred to “accidents” in a blog about California legislation (https://tinyurl.com/oukscr9 - Assembly Bill 1264) for the creation of a database for the notification of the next of kin of crash victims.

I describe these groups and individuals as “fragmented” because the movement comprises individuals and organizations that approach the challenge of mitigating highway fatalities from a variety of angles. These organizations and individuals include:

• Ms. Lightner, WeSaveLives
• Deborah Hersman, former chair of the National Transportation Safety Board and now president and CEO of the National Safety Council
• Louis Lombardo, a former research scientist at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and current principal of Louis V. Lombardo LLC and member of the Association of Air Medical Services
• Sean Kane, founder and president of Safety Research & Strategies

There are other safety advocates and organizations but these individuals stand out in my mind for their singular focus on a particular safe driving issue such as driver distraction, drunk driving, emergency response at crash scenes or vehicle testing and recall protocols. All agree that the U.S. has some of the most advanced infrastructure for safety system development and deployment but with some of the worst outcomes in the world.

The bad outcome from all the research and rule making is the nearly 100 daily fatalities from crashes which ranks the U.S., on an annual basis, fourth in the world behind China, India and Brazil. The U.S. crash fatality RATE is at least twice the average for Europe.

The strange thing about these individuals and their organizations is the limited following they appear to inspire and the lack of widespread outrage. The U.S. continues to stumble in its efforts to mitigate highway fatalities, but the general public barely takes notice.

There are no marches on Washington for vehicle safety – even though safety is one of the top criteria for car buyers. Volvo continues to be the main standard bearer for vehicle safety, but few car makers are lining up to raise high the safety banner. (Yes, Mercedes, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota and Honda have taken some steps in their marketing and advertising messages – but no car maker has signed up to Volvo’s Vision Zero proposition – that no one should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo - or your brand of car - by 2020)

Car makers and suppliers testified, uncomfortably, before the U.S. Congress in 2014 attempting to explain failures of airbags and ignition switches. But not much has changed, although legislation was passed last week calling for:

• Motor vehicle owners to be informed of outstanding recalls on their vehicles at the same time the DMV sends out a registration renewal reminder, or, for a new registration, at the same time the DMV sends out the proof of registration documentation;
• Motor vehicle owners to complete all safety recalls before renewing their registration. Exceptions include if: (1) the vehicle owner wasn’t notified of the recall when the registration renewal reminder came out, (2) the manufacturer lacks the parts or labor to complete the recall, or (3) the vehicle owner demonstrates that he/she had no reasonable opportunity to fulfill the recall, in which case the DMV can grant a temporary registration of up to 60 days.

I am not a fan of government involvement in the auto industry. But if the auto industry cannot close the safety gap, government intervention is the logical recourse.

It's a global problem. At the Future Networked Car 2015 event last week, as part of the Geneva Motor Show, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe reported on its progress toward approving a global regulation for an Accident Emergency Call System (AECS) by October 2015. (Yup, they’re going to have to repair that acronym – to CECS.) While UNECE would like to halve global annual highway fatalities by 2020, the expectation is that the annual death toll will actually rise, surpassing two million by 2025, according to the World Health Organization.

But these statistics are merely data until individuals are touched by tragedy. The first small step is to recognize the magnitude of the problem - billions of economic losses and millions of lost lives. The second step is to take action.

Car makers, regulators, politicians, traffic and transport authorities and the media are all implicated in our broken efforts to make driving safer in the U.S. and the rest of the world. The simplest thing for everyone to do is to never again call a crash an accident.