Center for Autosafety

September, 2017

• 21 September

  Truck Safety Technology Can Prevent 63,000 Crashes Each Year

  AAA Foundation Study Reveals Benefits of Adding Safety Technology to Large Trucks WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 21, 2017)- Equipping large trucks with advanced safety technologies has the potential to prevent up to 63,000 truck related crashes each year, according to new research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. In 2015, …

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• 20 September

  Federal Regulators Ratchet Up Probe of Ford Explorer Exhaust Complaints

  by Christopher Jensen Over the last five years, auto safety regulators have received hundreds of complaints of exhaust fumes and carbon monoxide wafting into the cabins of Ford Explorers. Investigators from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, who began looking into the issue only last year, say they’ve uncovered no …

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• 19 September

  Americans are right not to trust self-driving cars

  Jason Levine is executive director of the Center for Auto Safety. Self-driving cars potentially represent the greatest step toward automotive and pedestrian safety since universal installation of the air bag. Yet the American people remain reticent about this leap into the future. Seventy-eight percent of respondents to an AAA survey said …

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• 18 September

  Americans are right not to trust self-driving cars

  By Jason Levine Jason Levine is executive director of the Center for Auto Safety. Self-driving cars potentially represent the greatest step toward automotive and pedestrian safety since universal installation of the air bag. Yet the American people remain reticent about this leap into the future. Seventy-eight percent of respondents to an AAA …

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• 15 September

  Driverless Vehicle Makers Get to Steer Own Safety Oversight

  The U.S. Transportation Department unveiled a new policy that permits companies developing autonomous vehicles to self-police the technology’s safety, a move that drew plaudits from automakers but criticism from safety advocates. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said the policy incorporates concerns raised by companies and others about initial guidance released by …

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• 13 September

  U.S. to Let Automakers Self-Police Self-Driving Car Development

  The U.S. Transportation Department unveiled a new policy that permits companies developing autonomous vehicles to self-police the technology’s safety, a move that drew plaudits from automakers but criticism from safety advocates. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said the policy incorporates concerns raised by companies and others about initial guidance released by …

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• 12 September

  Tesla Self-Driving System Faulted by Safety Agency in Crash

  By NEAL E. BOUDETTE and BILL VLASIC SEPTEMBER 12, 2017

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• 12 September

  Driver Errors, Overreliance on Automation, Lack of Safeguards, Led to Fatal Tesla Crash

  9/12/2017 ​WASHINGTON (Sept. 12, 2017) — The National Transportation Safety Board determined Tuesday that a truck driver’s failure to yield the right of way and a car driver’s inattention due to overreliance on vehicle automation are the probable cause of the fatal May 7, 2016, crash near Williston, Florida. The NTSB also …

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• 7 September

  Consumer Groups: Subaru Owners Deserve Transmission Recall Not Extended Warranty

  By Christopher Jensen Consumer advocates from three groups say Subaru should be recalling models with a stalling problem instead of providing owners with an extended warranty on a troublesome continuously variable transmission. Stalling cars create “potentially dangerous situations for drivers,” said Jason Levine, the executive director of The Center for …

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August, 2017

• 31 August

  Fatal Jeep Crash Renews Criticism of Recall Fix to Prevent Fires

  A fatal accident this week involving a Jeep SUV has revived criticism from safety advocates that a federally sanctioned recall plan to keep the vehicle’s fuel tank from igniting in rear-end crashes didn’t go far enough to protect motorists. Vicki Hill, 58, of Elyria, Ohio, died early Monday morning after her …

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• 23 August

  Recall: With 707 Horsepower It’s A Good Idea To Keep The Oil In The Engine

  by Christopher Jensen It’s hard to imagine any good coming from the driver of a 707-horsepower vehicle not being able to see out the windshield. That accounts for the automaker recalling about 1,200 of its 2017 Dodge Challenger SRTs with the Hellcat V-8. The problem is a possible oil leak. …

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• 16 August

  U.S. too slow to require rear seat belt warnings, lawsuit says

  A new lawsuit accuses the U.S. government of being too slow to implement rules requiring that rear seat vehicle passengers be warned when they fail to buckle their seat belts. In a complaint filed on Wednesday, two nonprofits said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has done nothing to …

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• 16 August

  CAS and KidsAndCars.org Sue DOT/NHTSA to Force Action on Rear Seat Belt Reminder Rule

     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Aug. 16, 2017 Contact: KidsAndCars.org: Janette Fennell, Janette@KidsAndCars.org, (415) 336-9279 KidsAndCars.org: Amber Andreasen, Amber@KidsAndCars.org, (913) 732-2792 Center for Auto Safety: Jason Levine, JLevine@AutoSafety.org, (202) 328-7700 KidsAndCars.org and The Center for Auto Safety  Sue Department of Transportation to Issue Overdue Rule on Rear Safety Belt Reminders  Washington, …

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• 15 August

  At Center for Auto Safety, a New Leader for a New Era

  Since 1970 the tiny Center for Auto Safety has wielded enormous influence through its campaigns to recall vehicles for safety-related defects and to push states to enact consumer protections such as lemon laws. But consumer advocates say the Washington, D.C.,-based nonprofit is entering a new and perhaps more challenging environment under the …

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• 15 August

  Auto safety group names new director

  The Center for Auto Safety has named a new executive director. Jason K. Levine succeeds the late Clarence M. Ditlow III, who headed the organization for decades prior to his death last November. Levine, a consumer protection attorney, has held leadership positions in three federal agencies, including Chief of Staff at the U.S. Consumer …

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