THE SAFETY CHOICE COALITION

 

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DEDICATED TO THE PROPOSITION THAT  WHAT YOU DO FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY SHOULD BE DECIDED BY YOU AND NOT BY THE GOVERNMENT

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WORKING TOGETHER WE CAN BE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN  WORKING SEPARATELY

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Visit our Picture Gallery
and take a look at what
happens to real cars in
real fatal accidents

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Seatbelts have been killing people for more than thirty years. Read some of their stories.

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If you still think seatbelts
are a good idea you need
to read our report

Read published accounts
of what seatbelts do to
real people in real accidents

Read what other people
think of mandatory
seatbelt laws

 

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Letters to the editor     Newspaper gallery      Picture gallery      Seatbelts Kill

This site is dedicated to the memory of Commander John C. Waldron and the men of Torpedo Squadron 8, and to all others who gave their lives to preserve that liberty which some are now trying to take away from us.
"We here highly resolve that these honored dead shall not have died in vain".

This web-site was last updated on August 13,  2010

"People are tired of being pushed around, tired that we aren't smart enough to know what is good for us, that the only solution is the government, when it isn't the government that knows anything!" Posted by "Mario" on FOX News.

New Airbag Progress Report: In this report,  abpr10.doc, abpr10.pdf,  we extend the functionality of our computer program and include system delay, which increases the chance that the motorist will be struck by the air bag.

Legislative news:

    The Senate has adjourned until September 13 without taking up S. 3302 and S.3644. The House has adjourned without passing  H.R. 5381, the House bill corresponding to S.3302.

    Both the House and the Senate have now introduced appropriation bills for fiscal 2011 for DOT, HUD and Related Agencies. These bills include the money for NHTSA. The House bill is H.R. 5850, sponsored by Representative Olver (Mass. 1st), and the Senate bill is S. 3644, sponsored by Senator Patty Murray of Washington state.

    The House bill was introduced on July 26 and passed on July 29, which is something of a record for passing a thousand page appropriation bill which none of the members have read.  The vote was 261 to 157. The Senate bill was introduced on July 23 and placed on the calendar, but has not yet been taken up by the Senate.

The relevant provisions are the same in both bills. Here is what they say:

"For payment of obligations incurred in carrying out the provisions of 23 U.S.C. 402, 405, 406, 408, and 410 and sections 2001(a)(11), 2009, 2010, and 2011 of Public Law 109-59, to remain available until expended, $606,197,000 to be derived from the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account): Provided, That none of the funds in this Act shall be available for the planning or execution of programs the total obligations for which, in fiscal year 2011, are in excess of $606,197,000 for programs authorized under 23 U.S.C. 402, 405, 406, 408, and 410 and sections 2001(a)(11), 2009, 2010, and 2011 of Public Law 109-59, of which $235,000,000 shall be for `Highway Safety Programs' under 23 U.S.C. 402; $25,000,000 shall be for `Occupant Protection Incentive Grants' under 23 U.S.C. 405; $110,000,000 shall be for `Safety Belt Performance Grants' under 23 U.S.C. 406, and such obligation limitation shall remain available until September 30, 2012 in accordance with subsection (f) of such section 406 and shall be in addition to the amount of any limitation imposed on obligations for such grants for future fiscal years, of which up to $50,000,000 may be made available by the Secretary as grants to States that enact and enforce laws to prevent distracted driving; $34,500,000 shall be for `State Traffic Safety Information System Improvements' under 23 U.S.C. 408; $139,000,000 shall be for `Alcohol-Impaired Driving Countermeasures Incentive Grant Program' under 23 U.S.C. 410; $19,697,000 shall be for `Administrative Expenses' under section 2001(a)(11) of Public Law 109-59; $29,000,000 shall be for `High Visibility Enforcement Program' under section 2009 of Public Law 109-59; $7,000,000 shall be for `Motorcyclist Safety' under section 2010 of Public Law 109-59; and $7,000,000 shall be for `Child Safety and Child Booster Seat Safety Incentive Grants' under section 2011 of Public Law 109-59: Provided further, That of the funds made available for grants to States that enact and enforce laws to prevent distracted driving, up to $5,000,000 may be available for the development, production, and use of broadcast and print media advertising for distracted driving prevention: Provided further, That none of these funds shall be used for construction, rehabilitation, or remodeling costs, or for office furnishings and fixtures for State, local or private buildings or structures: Provided further, That not to exceed $500,000 of the funds made available for section 410 `Alcohol-Impaired Driving Countermeasures Grants' shall be available for technical assistance to the States: Provided further, That not to exceed $750,000 of the funds made available for the `High Visibility Enforcement Program' shall be available for the evaluation required under section 2009(f) of Public Law 109-59."

    Most of these provisions are the same as last year, the staff adopting its usual tactics of murder by cut-and-paste. The one new feature is the fifty million in bribes offered to states to pass "distracted driving" laws, put there in response to the demands of the insurance industry lobbyists. Notice that this money is to be distributed at the discretion of the Secretary (i.e. Ray LaHood), but well short of the extra $720 million which he wanted.  Notice the usual $29 million for "high visibility enforcement", i.e., seatbelt roadblocks and special seatbelt patrols. (At the discretion of the states, this money may also be used for special police patrols and police roadblocks under the pretext of looking for drunk drivers). Notice also the five million for propaganda against "distracted driving". Our masters are going to use our tax money to teach us in the way that we should go.

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Air bags, anyone?

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Booster seats, anyone?

This is what real,  fatal auto accidents look like.  This one took place in Los Angeles on July 16, 2010.  Pictures courtesy of KABC Channel 7, Los Angeles. For more pictures of this accident, visit

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/gallery?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=7558724&photo=1

Legislation:   H.R. 5381 was been placed on the union calendar with No. 307 on July 14, 2010. No further action on S.3302.

Roll call vote: As promised, here is the roll-call vote in committee on H.R. 5381: Voting for (the bad guys): Waxman, Dingell, Markey, Boucher,  Rush, Eshoo, Stupak, Engel, Green, DeGette, Caps, Doyle, Schakowski, Gonzalez, Baldwin, Weiner, Matheson, Butterfield, Melacon, Barrow, Hill, Matsui, Christensen, Castor, Sarbanes, Murphy (CT), Space, Mc Nerney, Sutton, Braley, and Welch. Voting against (the good guys): Barton, Upton, Stearns, Whitfield, Shimkus, Shadegg, Blunt, Buyer, Pitts, Bono-Mack, Terry, Rogers, Myrick, Sullivan, Murphy (PA), Burgess, Blackburn, Gingrey, Scalise, Griffith, and Latta. Not voting: Pallone, Gordon, Harman, Ross, Hall and Radanovich. As you can see, it was a straight, party line vote. The minority put up a great, but ultimately  losing, fight.

Legislation: Bobby Rush's "proposed draft" (see below) has now turned into a formal bill with a number: H.R. 5381. This bill corresponds to senate bill S. 3302 (see below). Ray LaHood, having made false accusations against Toyota, and invented non-existent problems, this bill now proposes to give the incompetent idiots at NHTSA another $720 million dollars to deal with these "problems". But the bottom line is that this bill would give Ray theHood almost unlimited power to rip off the car companies.

Henry Waxman  muscled aside Bobby Rush and put himself down as prime sponsor of this bill. Some of the leading democrats have decided that working the auto safety racket is a good thing and are rushing to get on board. Co-sponsors of this bill include Bruce Braley (Iowa-15), John Dingell (Michigan-15), Bobby Rush (Illinois-1) (notice Bobby Rush has been demoted to co-sponsor) and Bart Stupak (Michigan-1).

The bill is entitled "The Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2010". A more accurate title would be "The Motor Vehicle Rip-Off Act of 2010". The bill passed Waxman's Energy and Commerce Committee May 26 on a roll-call vote by 31 to 21.

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Seatbelts anyone? To see what real fatal auto accidents look like, visit our picture gallery. This one took place in Los Angeles on June 23, 2010. The driver was trapped in the vehicle and burned to death. (Pictures courtesy of KABC Channel 7, Los Angeles, California).

Government  intervention in automotive design and automotive safety has now cost the American people over $100 billion dollars and over 50,000 dead. Bear in mind that they have been at this since l963 and the FARS data base lists over 1.4 million victims. Seatbelts and air bags alone have cost the American people over $102 billion dollars just in the last ten years alone.  That's just the direct cost of these devices, not including the cost of the injuries and fatalities they cause. (See abpr6).The number of dead has to be based on an analysis of the available data, because the government has been careful to cover up the cause of  death of the victims.  They have even gone so far as to x out the death certificate numbers in the FARS data base. But there is enough data there to give one a pretty good idea of what actually happened.

Based on the government's own data, how many vehicles do you think have been involved in fatal accidents corresponding to the dummy test scenario? Would you believe none? We first looked in the data for 2001. We set the filter for front end collision with a wall at less than 36 mph. Unfortunately, the data does not give the angle of the collision. Thus our criterea could include a front end collision with a wall at any angle. Out of the 57,918 vehicles involved in fatal accidents that year, none, repeat none, corresponded to the set criterea. Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, we ran the filter for the 2008 data. This time, out of the 50,430 vehicles involved in fatal accidents that year we came up with five, 5 that is, which corresponded to the set criterea. However, the instruction manual specifically states that all front end collisions are to be included, even if the front end only grazed the wall. Thus there is no evidence that any of the five hit the wall at a right angle. Yet most of NHTSA's "safety" criterea, are based on this scenario.

New Air Bag Progress Report: How much explosive power does an air bag have? The short answer to that is "enough to kill you". More specifically, a driver's air bag has four times the power of a shotgun shell, a passenger air bag sixteen times the power of a shotgun shell.  To learn more, read our latest air bag progress report, abpr9.rtf   abpr9.pdf  abpr9.htm

Air bag report 8: The fatal flaw in the air bag theory (abpr8.doc , abpr8.pdf , abpr8.htm ). The fatal flaw in the air bag theory is pretty much the same as the fatal flaw in the seatbelt theory (puzzle1). Of course there are many fatal flaws in both of these theories, but what these tech notes show is that even in the unlikely scenario on which these theories are based, they are still fatally flawed.

Air bag progress report 3: Revised and updated. To see the latest version, click here 
Air bag progress report 6: How much has the government's interference in auto design and auto safety cost the  American consumer? Would you believe over a hundred billion dollars? Check out this report
Air bag progress report 5: Here we show, from the government's own data, that front air bags are set off in numerous cases by side impact and even rear end collisions, proving that air bags are set off by shock. If you have a late model car with six air bags and two seatbelt pretensers, all eight charges can be set off at once by an impact, which is a really scary proposition. So much for "smart air bags". To see the report, click here.
Air bag progress report 4: Read and find out what the government is forcing the auto industry to put in our cars. Click here
Airbag progress report 2. This is to keep you posted on our ongoing investigation into the effects of airbags. The findings were a shock even to us, and we're pretty cynical. To see this progress report, click here:
Airbag theory:   We took a look at the NHTSA seatbelt dummy videos and did a little calculation to see what would happen if the test vehicle was equipped with air bags instead of seatbelts. This isn't meant to be a scientific paper or anything. Just some preliminary results we thought we'd share with you for whatever they might be worth. To see the results, click here (By the way, in case any of you are wondering why it seems to work in the NHTSA and IIHS videos, if you look closely you notice that in some they've replaced the accelerometer with a contact detonator; in others they've rigged the seatbelt to hold back the dummy until the bag has inflated;  in one the bag even starts to inflate before the test vehicle has collided with anything! All of these videos are faked in one way or another. Apparently, they can't even make it work in the lab).

Seatbelt theory. Any physicist can show you the fatal flaw in the seatbelt theory in five minutes on the back of an old envelope. See puzzle1 solution.

Picture Gallery: Check out the new pictures in our picture galley. We have many more, but you get the point.

Legislation:

    United States House of Representatives: The House energy and commerce committee  held a hearing on the "The Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2010" on May 6, 2010.  Third update. We've now had a chance to look at  the testimony and it is becoming clearer what is going on. First of all, the bill was written by Bobby Rush and that, by itself explains almost everything. Congressman Bobby Rush  is Ray LaHood's great pal from Illinois, and the two are, apparently, engaged in this massive scheme to extort  money from the car companies. We have already seen what happened to Toyota. But they were only able to fine Toyota $16 million dollars. The key to this bill, once you strip away the padding, is the section which removes the limit on how much NHTSA can fine a car company.
            Dave Strickland actually said in his testimony that he hadn't yet had a  chance to study the bill! While he sounded very submissive,  he is covering his behind by putting into the record that he had no hand in writing this bill. An NHTSA bill and the director had no hand in writing it! The rest of his testimony was confined to saying how anxious he is to cooperate with everybody. His role here is to do and say what he is told.   Henry Waxman's openings remarks were, on the face of it, nauseating hypocrisy.   Waxman has now muscled aside Bobby Rush and appointed himself as prime sponsor of this bill. (See above).
            The testimony of the  witnesses was just window dressing, designed to give the hearing an air of legitimacy. The so-called "Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers" and the so-called "Association of International Automobile Manufacturers" are almost certainly phony front organizations created by NHTSA. The only time we ever hear of them is at congressional hearings relating to NHTSA.  We notice that nobody who works for any of the car companies is ever invited to testify at any of these hearings. Nor are automotive engineers. Taken at face value, the testimony of the witnesses reads like an earnest discussion of the emperor's clothes. But, like most congressional hearings, this was just an elaborately staged piece of theater.
            If there is a bright side to all this it is that this is a plan to rip off the car companies, not send the police to rip off ordinary citizens.  Be grateful for small favors.
            You can read the testimony yourself at http://energycommerce.house.gov

           You can read the bill  at http://energycommerce.house.gov/   Scroll down to  Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2010 and click on the link. As you read this bill, bear in mind that none of the people at NHTSA have the vaguest idea what they are doing so that the effect would be to give this bunch of clueless amateurs further license to interfere with the engineers at the car companies.             
        The bill would give NHTSA $720 million dollars for "Vehicle Safety Programs". While the bill does not say so, this money is almost certainly over and above the $805 million dollars a year NHTSA is getting now. In addition, the bill would impose a "Vehicle Safety User Fee to be paid by the manufacturer". The manufacturer would naturally pass the fee on to the consumer. The fee is initially set at  $3 per vehicle, "rising to $9 in three years". This is known as the foot-in-the-door technique. Once they get this fee enacted you may be sure it won't stay at $9 very long.
        Notice that this bill would remove the limit on the civil penalties that NHTSA could fine a manufacturer.  This means that NHTSA (i.e., Ray LaHood) could fine Toyota (or any other manufacturer) billions of dollars on false and trumped up charges and essentially put them out of business.
        Notice that this bill would require event data recorders in all vehicles. Just record the data in a crash? Don't you believe it.

For the senate version of this bill, S.3302, and more, click on leg2010

Threats and bribes: Here is what it says in 23 USC 402 (c):

"Funds apportioned under this section to any State, that does not have a highway safety program approved by the Secretary or that is not implementing an approved program, shall be reduced by amounts equal to not less than 50 per centum of the amounts that would otherwise be apportioned to the State under this section, until such time as the Secretary approves such program or determines that the State is implementing an approved program, as appropriate. The Secretary shall consider the gravity of the State’s failure to have or implement an approved program in determining the amount of the reduction. The Secretary shall promptly apportion to the State the funds withheld from its apportionment if he approves the State’s highway safety program or determines that the State has begun implementing an approved program, as appropriate, prior to the end of the fiscal year for which the funds were withheld. If the Secretary determines that the State did not correct its failure within such period, the Secretary shall reapportion the withheld funds to the other States in accordance with the formula specified in this subsection not later than 30 days after such determination."

10th amendment? United States Constitution? Oath of office? This is the kind of power congress has given to Mr. Ray LaHood.

Police State  Gestapo by order of congress: You think we're paranoid? Read what it says in S.1072, later passed by the congress as the SAFETEA Act of 2004:

Section 4110 (c) REQUIRED STATE PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES: Subsection (1):
"CHECK POINT SATURATION PATROL PROGRAM: A state program to conduct a series of high-visibility, statewide law enforcement campaigns......either through the use of check points or saturation patrols......A state program meets the requirements of this subparagraph only if a state organizes campaigns.....in cooperation with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration"
There. Don't you feel safer already?
"Required state programs and activities"? Where in the constitution does it say that congress has the authority to "require state programs"? This kind of legislation is specifically barred by the 10th amendment to the constitution. But we forget. The constitution is now "quaint and outmoded" and "an 18th century document with little relevance to the modern world". As for the oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the United States, "mere words of no importance".

New Video:
Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG3u3whrfcc&p Notice how the steering wheel has been driven back against her body so that she is trapped under the steering wheel. This means she hit the barrier at about 30 mph when the barrier gave way. Had the barrier not given way the steering wheel would have been driven into her body and she would have been killed. This is what a real auto accident looks like. Compare this to the dummy test videos.

Legislative updates (continued):

Note: We are moving our 2010 legislative updates into leg2010.

Kansas: The Kansas state legislature has adjourned without passing SB 483.

SB 483: In an uparalleled act of cynicism and hypocrisy, the Kansas state senate, on February 16, 2010, by a vote of 26 to 14, voted to sell out the people of Kansas for a federal grant.   The bill was sent to the House and assigned to the transportation committee.

SB 483 would have made the Kansas seatbelt law primary, extend the seatbelt requirement to all passenger car occupants, raise the fine from $30 to $60 and make seatbelt evidence admissible in court in certain cases. Introduced in, and by, the senate transportation committee. To no one's great surprise, the committee recommended passage of their bill on 2/10/2010. Members of the committee are: Senator Dwayne Umberger, Chairman, Senator Bob Marshall, Vice Chairman, and Senators Apple, Donovan, Huntington, Peterson, V. Schmidt, Kultala and Hensley. Kultala and Hensley are the only democrats on the committee.

NHTSA  offered Kansas $11.2 million dollars to pass this bill under 23 USC 406 and $465,000 a year under 23 USC 405. The amount under 23 USC 406 was the same as last year, which is surprising because NHTSA usually ups their bid in case of failure. The $465,000 a year under 23 USC 405 is new. NHTSA was promising Kansas money in perpertuity, which they have no authority to do, since money for 405 has only been appropriated by congress for this year. NHTSA has told Kansas they must enact this legislation by June 30, 2010. As a result, the Kansas state senate   "declared an emergency" to rush this bill through.
The hearing on this bill was orchestrated by NHTSA through the Kansas Deparmtent of Transportation. Testifying were representatives from the Kansas Department of Transportation, the  Kansas Health Department, the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, the Kansas Peace Officers Association, the Kansas Sheriffs Association, and the Kansas State Nurses Association. Notice the heavy police presence, and the fact that all of these people are on the public payroll. Not a single private citizen testified for this bill. The people of Kansas were not represented.
    In addition, the "supplementary statement" on the bill also stated that written testimony was received  from AAA Kansas, "Safe Kids Kansas" the "Alliance of Auto Manufacturers" and the State Farm Insurance Companies. Both "SafeKids (insert name of state)" and the "Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers" are phony front organizations created by NHTSA and their "written testimony" came straight out of NHTSA headquarters in Washington, D.C. The insurance companies have been bamboozled by NHTSA into believing that this kind of legislation will save them money.
Most of the money for passing this bill, as well as some of the fine money, would have gone  to the police, which explains the heavy police presence at the hearing. It is greed for money and power. In testifying for this bill, the police are not telling the truth.   They  know full well what seatbelts do to motorists in automobile accidents.  The second largest amount of the money would have gone to the health department. Not mentioned in the fiscal or supplemental note is that fact that Kansas DOT would receive additional money under 23 USC 402, which  exceeds the money Kansas is getting under 23 USC 405 and 406.  This is a long, complicated story, but Kansas DOT has a major fiscal interest in this and is responsible for orchestrating this in Kansas under both federal and state law.
The only other noteworthy development to report here is that the delegation NHTSA through DOT managed to round up to testify at the hearing was somewhat lower level than last year, when the heads of the department themselves showed up at the hearing. Two members of the committee, senators Marshall (the vice chairman) and Peterson, voted against the bill.

Check out these videos and ask yourself what would have happened if a child had been in the back seat strapped into a deathtrap seat:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA18FOZw5Qk    (Doesn't look much like the dummy tests, does it.)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP7GW-dKqlc     (Doesn't look much like the dummy tests, does it.)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpD1b5jVap0        (Doesn't look much like the dummy tests, does it.)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKzwPx8tLt0&feature=fvw     (Doesn't look much like the dummy tests, does it.)

More than a thousand people burn to death this way every year in the United States, based on the government's own data (ftp://ftp.nhtsa.dot.gov/FARS) mainly because they can't get their seatbelts open after a crash.

 

Fun with air bags: The best remark we have heard about air bags so far came from a spectator after watching an air bag blow a stove to smithereens. "Holy shit!" he exclaimed, "you mean they put those in cars?" To watch the fun, visit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CzyOtuF_SA&feature=related

By the way, we have   learned that azide, like nitro-glycerin, can be set off by shock. That may explain why air bags blow up in some rear end collisions (according to the FARS data base) when they aren't supposed to. Of course that would defeat the so-called "smart air bag" computer programs, since these would only work if the bag is set off by the computer, not by the shock. We are continuing to investigate this matter.

New NHTSA administrator. David L. Strickland has been appointed NHTSA administrator. Mr. Strickland is a lawyer who majored in political science as an undergraduate, thus keeping intact NHTSA's record of never having had an administrator who knew anything about highway safety. Mr. Strickland is a former congressional staffer, thus continuing the practice of past  congresses and administrations of appointing congressional staffers to head government agencies. Mr. Strickland was on the staff of the senate commerce committee, which, over the years, has been instrumental in trying to force the seatbelt scam on the nation.

Dramatic accident videos:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yYtZsKq0AI    and  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7XZy0rZ_dQ

    These videos bring to life the full horror of what happens in accidents where the vehicle catches fire. Such accidents are not rare. According to the FARS data base, in 2001, 1339 vehicles caught fire as a result of collisions or rollovers with fatal consequences,  in which 1629 vehicle occupants lost their lives. In 2005 the numbers were  1444 and 1766 respectively.
    Actual accident reports (see our seatbelt victims file) indicate that vehicle occupants almost invariably have trouble opening their seatbelts after  a severe collision or rollover.  In case of fire, unless the occupants are first crushed to death or killed by their seatbelts,  they almost invariably burn to death unless someone is around with a knife to cut them free before it is too late.
    Notice that in the videos, while no one mentions seatbelts, in the second video you can hear one of the rescuers shout "Get a knife!", which pretty much tells the story.
According to the FARS data base, since l996, when every state but New Hampshire had enacted a primary or secondary seatbelt law, approximately 19,600 vehicles have caught fire as a result of collisions or rollovers with fatal results, with approximately 23,800 fatalities.

No seatbelt saves lives: From Driving Freedoms, January/February 2010: "I know of someone who lived through a T-bone precisely because he was not wearing a belt. The incoming car punched through the driver's side, continuing clear through the center of his car and, had he been belted in, he would have been crushed. He was unhurt because of being unbelted and thrown to the passenger side of the car".( Letter from Warren Woodward)

Idaho tells NHTSA to go to hell: Representative Barrett tells us how NHTSA called her up and threatened to withhold $2,000,000 dollars in federal highway funds if Idaho did not pass a motorcycle helmet law. The legislature refused and the feds sent Idaho the money anyway. The moral of this story is: If you stand up to the bastards they will back down.

Atwater vs. Lago Vista: In all the long history of seatbelt litigation, perhaps no case is more important than the case of Atwater vs. Lago Vista
(532 US 318 (2001)). In l997, a gentle lady, Mrs. Gail Atwater, driving her kids home from soccer practice, was arrested for not wearing a seatbelt and subjected to verbal and physical abuse by the police. Neither before, nor after her arrest, did Mrs. Atwater do anything to bring this on, only asking the officer politely to please lower his voice as he was screaming at her, as he was frightening the children. You can find the full story by clicking on this link: LagoVista
    After four years of appeals and hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, Mrs. Atwater's case reached the United States Supreme Court, which ruled against her 5 to 4 in a split decision. The majority opinion was written by Justice David Souter, who is, mercifully, no longer on the court. The minority, dissenting  opinion was written by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who has also retired. Justices Stevens, Ginsberg, and Breyer, all of whom are still on the court, joined Justice O'Connor in dissenting. In writing for the majority, Justice Souter not only ruled against Mrs. Atwater, he basically spit in her face. We would urge everyone who is interested in this issue, and who thinks they can obtain justice in the courts, to read Justice Souter's opinion. You don't have to read all of it. It's all in the same vein so after a few pages you pretty much get the idea. We know it's hard going, we know it will make you sick,   but it's a real eye opener and well worth the effort. You can find it at

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/boundvolumes.htm/532bv.pdf

The case starts on page 416 and Justice Souter's opinion starts on page 421.

Police lie about ejections, again: June 24, 2008. CBS News: "A U.S. Postal Service Worker was killed in a crash Tuesday in a crash involving her postal service truck and another vehicle.... Maria F. Gutierrez...died at the scene....Los Angeles police officer...said Guttierez was ejected from the truck...(U.S. Postal Service spokesman Larry Dozier) insisted she was not thrown from the truck.

Same old story: February 1, 2008: "Man, 22, killed in expressway rollover crash...Joshua Eugene Fuller was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash...failed to negociate a curve and lost control....Fuller was wearing a seatbelt, according to the Riverside County Coroner's Office". Note: if Fuller had not been wearing a seatbelt, he might have lived.

No seatbelt saved Tiger Woods: According to an Associated Press report out of Orlando, Florida, Woods smashed into a tree at 30 mph. Woods was not wearing a seatbelt and was not seriously hurt. Had he been wearing a seatbelt he would almost certainly have been seriously injured or killed (see Corzine accident and Puzzle no. 1 below).

Same old story, again: CBS News, 2008 (note: we are trying to get an exact date for this one) "Man, 23, killed in rollover crash... single vehicle rollover-crash...driving at 80mph to 90 mph...according to (CHP Police Officer) Low, who said the victim was wearing a seatbelt".  Note: This is a typical rollover fatality. Single vehicle accident, excessive speed, reckless driving. Type of vehicle not specified but probably an SUV.

Mandate alert: It looks as though the NHTSA mandate to put automatic stabilization systems on all new cars by 2011 still stands. In addition to driving up the price of new cars, these devices represent a clear and present danger because if they malfunction, as some of them will, they can throw a car out of control and cause a serious accident. These devices are advertised as preventing roll-overs, but we know from the government's own data that roll-overs happen mainly to drivers driving vans and SUVs in a reckless manner. There can, therefore, be no justification for forcing these devices on the entire motoring public.
   
    New video: They say California is the future. Take a look at what the future looks like if we don't stop them:

California motorcycle helmet stop

Note: We edited this video to show only a small part of the stop. The "criminal" was actually detained for about a half hour. The arresting officer obviously thought that anyone who would wear a motorcycle helmet which did not, in his opinion, conform to California state law, must be a dangerous criminal, and so he called for backup. The backup officer made his contribution to the proceedings by glaring at the offender in a hostile and threatening manner while the first officer was filling out the paper work, taking photographs, and going through all the other lengthy procedures necessitated by such a serious crime.

The police are doing this because the California state legislature passed a motorcycle helmet law. The reason they passed this law was because they received massive bribes (federal grants) from NHTSA for doing so. NHTSA did this because they were ordered to do it by congress. Congress ordered them to do it because they received massive bribes (campaign contributions) from the insurance industy. The reason they did it in this roundabout way was because they hoped we wouldn't be able to trace it back to them. Otherwise they could just have passed a federal motorcycle helmet law.

The police state at work. If you don't know what "primary seatbelt law" means, take a look at this video. (Remember, if you get in an accident wearing a seatbelt, your seatbelt can kill you).

Congress passes H.R. 3288. In an extraordinary Sunday session, the United States Senate  passed H. R. 3288, the omnibus appropriation bill for fiscal 2010.  This is the biggest pork barrel bill in all of recorded history. We are trying to get a clarification because some of the appropriations, specifically those relating to 23 USC 402, 405 and 406 were not authorized.  It probably won't make much difference because in the atmosphere of total cynicism and corruption which prevails in Washington today, no senator is likely to object on a legal technicality and thus delay getting billions of dollars of pork barrel money.

Specifically, the bill appropriates $235,000,000 for 23 USC 402, $25,000,000 for 23 USC 405 and $124,500,000 for 23 USC 406. In addition , it appropriates $29,000,000 for "high visibility enforcement" (police harassment) and $7,000,000 for "Anton's Law". NHTSA will use this money in January to bribe states to force motorists to wear seatbelts and strap their kids into death-trap seats. Many will die as a result.

H.R. 3288 was expanded from merely including HUD and DOT to including all agencies and departments for which money for fiscal 2010 has not yet been appropriated.  The conference report made no change in the money appropriated for 23 USC 402, 405 and 406. Thus. while Americans, especially women and children, continue to die in the most horrible ways as a result of government interference in highway safety,   congress continues to appropriate money to fund this interference. We are, basically, being ruled by a gang of murderers.

For the legislative background on this bill go to leg2009

Congressional interference in highway safety has now cost the lives of around 40,000 Americans. Because of bureaucratic lies, cover-up, fraud and deceit, the exact number will never be known. But that the number is large is not in doubt. This is what happens when legislators think that we the people are children and they are our parents. Politicians are not necessarily smarter than the rest of us. A little humility will go a long way toward preventing this kind of thing in the future.

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Your congress at work:  The United States senate banking subcommittee is held a hearing on public transportation safety. (Why is the banking subcommittte holding a hearing on transportation safety?) Only four senators were present: Menendez, Warner, Reed and Vitter. Only one, senator Vitter, is a republican. (Senator Dodd came in later).The principal witness was Ray LaHood, the present Secretary of Transportation.  In their opening remarks, the democratic senators dwelt on how much they love Ray LaHood, how they'd all served in the House together, and how they're all old pals. It didn't take long to figure out what was going on here.  LaHood has sent a bill to the congress to increase his money and power, specifically by increasing federal authority over "public transportation safety", including both railroads and public transit. It seems that this authority is now limited by statute (what a shame) and Mr. LaHood was incensed by this limitation on his authority and wants it removed. He also wants lots more money for federal grants (which he would have the power to give or withhold).  All the democratic senators shared Mr. LaHood's outrage over this limitation of the authority of the federal government.
We cannot honestly say that this hearing set a new high (or low) for nauseating hypocrisy. The existing standard for this critereon would be hard to beat.  But clearly, these people have got to go. If you have a strong stomach and have the time, visit www.cspan.org and listen to this hearing.

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While congress continues to appropriate money to force Americans to wear seatbelts, Americans continue to be killed by seatbelts.

School bus accident: Idaho Statesman, September 24, 2009. "...On Wednesday,  the 17 year old senior (Heckathorn) died when his pickup truck hit a school bus head-on....Police chief said   neither the bus driver nor any of the...kids on the school bus were hurt...It does not appear that excessive speed was a factor...ISP Captain Steve Richardson said...Heckathorn was wearing a seatbelt and his airbag deployed, according to ISP (Idaho State Police) reports". Note: As usual, the report does not say what the cause of death was. Heckathorn could only have been killed by one of three things: The seatbelt, the air bag, or being crushed to death as the truck was stove in. Because of the great difference in momentum between the school bus and the pickup truck,  the rate of deceleration of the bus would have been much less than that of the truck, crushing the truck and even pushing it backward (or aside), depending on the speed of the two vehicles, which is not specified. Needless to say, none of the kids on the bus were wearing seatbelts, since there weren't any.  If the bus driver was wearing a seatbelt, we're willing to bet you he has a tummy ache, at the very least. For the full story, visit

http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/910823.html

Seatbelts kill: NewsOK, the Oklahoman, and KXII Channel 12 News Oklahoma, November 10, 2009. Dale Bannister, 73 was fatally injured when his car, a 2008 Chrysler, went off the road, struck a guard rail, rolled over twice and hit a bridge support. Bannister was wearing a seatbelt. Note: If the car rolled over twice, Bannister must have been travelling at a high rate of speed when his car left the road. He would have been fatally injured when the roof caved in, crushing his skull and breaking his neck. The seatbelt would have acted like an anvil, holding his body in place as the roof caved in.

Seatbelts kill: (from myspace death.com, November 14, 2009) "Police suspect (that Carey) fell asleep at the wheel on October 21, 2009, causing him to overturn the Jeep Wrangler (he was driving). The belted (Sean K.) Carey died  at the scene as a result of his injuries, according to Idaho State Police". (Carey was killed when the jeep fell on top of him, crushing him to death. If he had not been wearing a seatbelt he would have been thrown clear and would almost certainly have survived.)

http://www.mydeathspace.com/.../Sean_Carey_(19)_fell_asleep_at_the_wheel_of_his_Jeep,_causing_it_to_overturn

Seatbelts kill: (from the Del Valle News (Texas), October 21, 2009) "Edwin Aviles....failed to yield to a Chevy van....the van struck Aviles...who was pronounced dead at the scene. (Aviles) was wearing a seatbelt, DPS officials said. The driver of the van was not injured." (If the driver of the van had been wearing a seatbelt, you may be sure that the police would have said so, and he would have been seriously injured.)

Seatbelts kill: (from Richmond Times Dispatch, October 26, 2009) Jeronimo Mendez, drunk and speeding, crashed into a sign and was killed. Medez was wearing a seatbelt, police said. For the full story, visit

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/site_elements/tags/tag/virginia+state+police

Ejections save lives: (from NewsOK, The Oklahoman, November 10, 2009). Nicole Venegas was driving her pickup truck down the street at a high rate of speed when she struck a group of parked cars. The truck became airborne, flipped over, and landed on its top. Four of the five occupants were thrown out (they were probably riding on the bed of the truck) and survived, but Venegas remained in the truck and was killed (No doubt she was crushed to death when the roof caved in). The survivors were taken to a local hospital and treated (which sounds as though their injuries were not serious). For the full story, visit

http://newsok.com/separate-wrecks-claim-4-in-oklahoma/article/3416083?custom_click=pod_headline_northeast-oklahoma-news#ixzz0XYGA9ILG

Collision in South Dakota: A Toyota pickup truck driven by Richard Chell collided with a Jeep Cherokee driven  by Nicholas Helgeson. Helgeson was uninjured, Chell was killed. Guess which one was wearing a seatbelt. That's right, Chell, who was killed, was wearing a seatbelt. Helgeson, who was uninjured, was not.  For the full story, visit

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/article_4eaf5f64-cbe2-11de-a3de-001cc4c002e0.html

Head-on collision in Minnesota: In one car the driver was wearing a seatbelt and a small child was strapped into a booster seat. In the other car neither of the two occupants were wearing seatbelts. Guess who died and who survived. That's right - the driver wearing the seatbelt and the child in the booster seat were killed. The two men who were not wearing seatbelts survived. Police claim that one of the two survivors was "ejected" and taken to the hospital "in critical condition". The other suffered only minor injuries. We are always suspicious of police claims of "ejection". We've seen too many that turned out to be false. For the full story, visit

http://www.startribune.com/local/69533172.html

Boise mother backs over toddler: (Boise TV 2 news flash, November 4). No, this isn't last week's. This is a new one. That's the second one in as many weeks, that we know about, both likely the result of the mother's visibility being blocked by the government mandated head-rests.

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Mother backs over toddler (ABC news headline). You have to wonder how many others have been run over because the driver's vision was blocked by the government mandated headrests. The trouble with the people who write these mandates is that they are just plain stupid. They don't stop to think.

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alg_taconic.jpg (54416 bytes)

Crushed to death

 taconic2.jpg (91613 bytes)

Burned to death - trapped by their seatbelts and booster seats

This accident took place on the Taconic State Parkway on Long Island, New York, On July 26, 2009.

 

    As you may recall. "highway traffic safety grants" is a euphemism for bribes paid to states to force their citizens to use seatbelts, booster seats and motorcycle helmets, as demanded by the insurance industry. It's rather interesting that they no longer mention air bags.  Apparently, after air bags had killed hundreds, and probably thousands, of motorists, it finally dawned on them that air bags are not a good idea. Since seatbelts have killed more people than air bags, one has to wonder why they have not given up on seatbelts as well.

    To read the legislation, visit http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/b_three_sections_with_teasers/active_leg_page.htm and click on H.R. 3288.

    To see how much the insurance industry is paying members of congress, visit http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=F09

The entire United States Congress is in the pay of the insurance industry. It now looks as though all of these so-called "safety laws" (bicycle helmet laws, motorcycle helmet laws, "personal floation device laws", booster seat laws, seatbelt laws, air bag laws, etc.) are there because the insurance industry  bribed the members of congress, which in turn bribed state and local government with our tax money. It is a staggering display of arrogance and ignorance. 

When the Congress of the United States  forces the American people to spend more than $60 billion dollars on seatbelts, airbags, booster seats, and other crackpot inventions, plus fines and bribes, and puts their lives at risk, because the insurance industry is under the illusion that this will save them (the insurance industry) a few dollars, that is simply not acceptable.

To see who is behind this, check out www.iihs.org. IIHS is run by Adrian Lund, a social psychologist with no technical training, who has, apparently, fallen for every crackpot scheme ever put out by NHTSA.

Hearings: On May 18, the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee of the House of Representatives held a hearing to justify the inclusion of the auto "safety" clauses of the expiring SAFETEALU bill in the new one. Unless they are stopped, the same murderous lies will be included in the new bill and thousands more will die. For a list of the members, visit http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=160&Itemid=61 Write to Chairman Waxman or the members of the committee,  if any of them are in your state, and ask them to repeal 23 USC 405 and 406, and take seatbelts out of 23 USC 402.
To read the testimony presented at this hearing, visit:

http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1624:energy-and-commerce-subcommittee-hearing-on-auto-safety-current-mandates-and-emerging-issues&catid=122:media-advisories&Itemid=55

This testimony is going to be used to try to extend legislation which has caused the death of thousands of Americans and will kill thousands more if it is not stopped.  All of the witnesses basically regurgitated the same tired old falsehoods being peddled by NHTSA. All of the witnesses belonged the establishment which is trying to preserve the status quo. It was particularly disappointing that the committee gave a platform to Jeffrey Runge and Joan Claybrook, both of whom have repeatedly made false statements under oath, and, by their advocacy of seatbelts,  share in the responsibility for the deaths of thousands of Americans. They continued to make false statements under oath at this hearing. Particulary disturbing was the testimony of one Robert Strassburger who, supposedly has a degree in Mechanical Engineering. If Mr. Strassburger is a competent Mechanical Engineer, then he must have known that some of the statements he was making were false. That would make his testimony perjury and subject him to five years in jail. 
It is a pity that the committee did not give a platform to opposing points of view, given what is at stake. For our  reaction to this testimony, see our Response.

The Subcommittee on Highways held a hearing last summer on this matter which you can watch by clicking on the link on the committee web site.

http://transportation.house.gov/hearings/hearingDetail.aspx?NewsID=702

The hearing lasted about two hours and it is enough to make your blood run cold. None of the participants, neither the members nor the witnessess, had the vaguest idea what they were talking about, yet all spoke as if they were great experts, and all took for granted that they had a right and an obligation to use  police and propaganda to force their ill informed opinions on the public. The testimony of Mr. Poits, the NHTSA representative, was absolutely staggering in its falsity and mendacity. We urge you to watch this hearing, even though it will turn your stomach. Take a shot of whiskey before you watch it, and keep a bucket handy in case you have to throw up.

Insurance companies responsible for seatbelt coercion? It now seems that it is the auto insurance companies who are behind the campaign to force motorists to wear seatbelts. They apparently believe that if they can force everyone to wear a seatbelt it will save them money. They got this silly idea from IIHS, who got it from NHTSA, who got it from Congress, who got it from Joan Claybrook, who probably got it from the same guy who thought Corvairs were prone to roll over. 

It might be a good idea if everyone wrote to their insurance company at this time and asked them to stop promoting seatbelt coercion. Here are the addresses of the principal auto insurance companies:

Mr. Edward P. Rust, Jr., President
State Farm Inusrance Company
1 State Farm Plaza
Bloomington, IL 61710-0001

Mr. Thomas J. Wilson, President
Allstate Insurance Company
2775 Sanders Road
Northbrook, IL 60062-6127

Mr. Stanley W. McNaughton, President
PEMCO Insurance Company
325 Eastlake Avenue East
Seattle, WA 98109-5466

Mr. Olza M. Nicely, President
GEICO Insurance Company
5260 Western Avenue
Chevy Chase, MD 20815

 

Seatbelts, anyone? New Haven Register, June 16, 2009. "... David Servin died at the scene and Krakowski...died a short time later after being extricated from the car. ....The car was so badly crushed we thought it was a hatchback of some kind...The way the car was mangled, that police car had to be going really fast" (The victims were hit by a police car).

Seatbelts, anyone? The Guardian, UK, July 1, 2009: "Girl, 14, rescued after plane crash...only survivor...told her father how she was thrown clear...(only injuries were) a fractured collarbone and cuts and bruises to her face"

More seatbelt fatalities:

New Haven Register, June 16, 2009. "(17 month old) Montez Turner, Jr. died in the crash when the Ford Escape in which he was riding flipped over" This child almost certainly died because it was strapped  into a booster seat. You may be sure that if the child had not been in a booster seat, the police would have mentioned it. The booster seat elevates the child and holds it in place, thus guaranteeing that the child will be crushed to death when the roof caves in. (For further information on what booster seats do to children in roll-overs, see puzzles 2 and 3 below).

Tulsa World, June 9, 2009:   "....Salter died in a one vehicle collision...when his 2002 Freightliner left the road...and struck a tree. Salter was wearing a seatbelt (state troopers) said". Note: A Freightliner is a big truck. We don't have enough crush data on big trucks to know if Salter was crushed to death or killed by his seatbelt. If he was not crushed to death, he was almost certainly killed by his seatbelt. If he was going 40 mph or less when he hit, he would most likely have survived, had he not been wearing a seatbelt.

Colusa County Sun Herald, June 10, 2009: "Diego Valdez was killed...when his l991 Dodge drifted off the road and struck a tree...(CHP Officer) Owens said... Valdez was wearing a seatbelt and shoulder harness, he collided head on with a tree at an unknown speed, sustaining fatal injuries as a result of the impact". Based on our research, if Valdez was going over 45 mph when he hit the tree, he would have been crushed to death. If he was going under 45 mph he would have been killed by his seatbelt. If he was going 40 mph or less when he hit, he would most likely have survived, had he not been wearing a seatbelt.

Las Vegas Review Journal, January 25, 2009: "...Gonzalez was killed in a single vehicle, roll-over accident...the accident report stated that the left half of the Explorer's roof was crushed inward and the entire roof was buckled and bowed. Gonzalez seatbelt was found partially extended. Gonzalez, who sustained head injuries, died of blunt force trauma". It's the old story - classic rollover - head bashed in when the roof collapsed; seatbelt prevented her from taking evasive action. In this case "seatbelt partially extended"  may indicate that she was trying to avoid the blow. It's a wonder she was able to extend it at all - the seatbelt would have locked in the roll-over. But people have great strength in desperate situations. Had she not been wearing a seatbelt, she would most likely have survived. Her family are suing the Ford Motor Company because the seatbelt didn't save her, "among other things"!

The NHTSA lobbying machine at work. The following excepts are from the results of a Pro-Quest search:

1."Marchetti Memorial Foundation Urges Florida Media to Help as State Legislature Considers Life-Saving Seatbelt Law Changes. Anonymous, U.S. Newswire, Washington, April 24. NHTSA research shows that...." Notice that this press release, which was, supposedly put out by a grieving family in Florida, was actually written by "Anonymous" and released over something claiming to be "U.S. Newswire" in Washington, D.C. Notice that the first word of the press release is "NHTSA".

2. "Marchetti Memorial Foundation Urges Florida Media to Help, as State Legislature Considers Life-Saving Changes. Anonymous, PR Newswire, New York. Copyright PR Newswire Association LLC, April 24, 2009. Tampa, Fla., April 24 /PRNewswire/ Tampa, Fla. - The Katie Marchetti Memorial Foundation is urging news media across the state to lend their editorial support to help pass important changes to Florida's existing safety belt law to save lives and reduce highway injuries. FAILURE OF THE STATE'S LEGISLATORS TO PASS SUCH  LIFE-SAVING MEASURES BY JUNE 30 WILL DEPRIVE FLORIDIANS OF $35.5 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDS FOR ROAD IMPROVEMENTS"
The statement pretty much speaks for itself. Notice that this one, also written by "Anonymous", was released by something claiming to be "PR Newswire" out of New York.

It is simply too nauseating for words. Exploiting the grief of the Marchetti family (assuming they are genuine) to force this blood-soaked scam on the people of Florida.  It is NHTSA which is responsible for this.

The story  in the Orlando Sentinel of May 4, 2009 quoted one Eric Bolton, said to be a spokesman for NHTSA. The falsehoods which Eric Bolton fed to the Sentinel are absolutely breathtaking. ("Seatbelts are the most important safety feature....reduce risk to front seat occupants by 45%....etc.,etc.) It is the classic Big Lie technique of Adolf Hitler, except that it is very difficult to prove in a court of law what a person knew and when he knew it.  So we have to call them falsehoods rather than lies.

Today's amusement for engineers: Visiting the "safety" page of the "Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers"  we are told that they have now decided to put "force limiters" on seatbelts. We know it isn't really funny, but you may as well laugh as cry.

Puzzle A car smashes perpendicularly into a concrete wall at 30 mph. We've never actually seen such an accident but since NHTSA seems to base almost all its design criteria on this scenario, we thought we would use it. A passenger in the vehicle, weighing 150 pounds and restrained by a seatbelt, comes to a stop in one foot. (This is based on NHTSA crash test videos which show about a foot of crush at the front of the vehicle). What would be the force of the seatbelt on the passenger?
Since NHTSA is now pushing "Anton's Law" requiring children up to 8 years old to be placed in booster seats, we offer you an alernative. Instead of an adult passenger, assume it is a child weighing 60 pounds in a booster seat which comes to a stop in one foot. What would be the force of the restraining  straps on the child?

Puzzle answers: The force on the 150 pound passenger would be 4,509 pounds.  The force on the 60 pound child would be 1,804 pounds.  We have posted the solution so you can check the answers for yourself.

Puzzle Answers:

For the complete report on the solution to the puzzle below, click on puzzle2.html or puzzle2.pdf

Puzzle contest: In our previous puzzle, we showed what the booster seat straps would do to a child in a head-on collision. What would the booster seat straps do to a child in a roll-over? In their analysis of a roll-over accident, Yamaguchi, et. al.*, find an angular velocity of 4.89 radians per second when the roof edge strikes the ground after the vehicle has rotated  over 90 degrees. Assuming a typical four-year-old (Anton) in a booster seat in the vehicle, with what force would the child's neck be driven into the edge of the shoulder belt?
*Yamaguchi, G.T., et. al., "Development of a Computational Method to Predict Occupant Motions  and Neck Loads During Rollovers" SAE Technical Paper Series, 2005-01-0300; Biomechanics 2005 (SP-1929); Presented at the SAE 2005 World Congress, Detroit, Michigan, April 11-14, 2005.

Note to those who want to use the police to force seatbelts on the American people. If you dont know the answer to this puzzle, maybe you shouldn't be pontificating about seatbelts.

Puzzle No. 3: It takes a high degree of centrifugal force to cause a 4,000 pound SUV to roll over. If a vehicle occupant, such as a child in a booster seat, is tied to the vehicle, then that occupant, too, would experience a high degree of centrifugal force. What would be the force on a child in a booster seat during the first 90 degrees of an SUV rollover?

Solution to Puzzle No. 3: The graph on the left shows the force on a child sitting on the inside of the rotation for rollovers at speeds ranging from 59 to 95 fps (40 to 65 mph). The discontinuity in the solution indicates a vault. The graph on the right shows the direction of the force in the transverse plane: omega is the angle in radians which the force makes with the perpendicular to the side of the car; a negative value indicates that the force component perpendicular to the seat is downward -i.e., towards the seat, and a positive value indicates that the force component is upward - that is, away from the seat and against the straps. Notice that when the force is highest,   just before vault, all the force is directed against the straps.

 

For the full report, click on one of the following links: puzzlesol3.pdf  puzzlesol3.htm    puzzlesol3.doc (Note: this is a 55 page report).

Legislative news: We have moved most of the 2009 legislative news to leg2009

Attention, activists: If your state does not have a primary seatbelt law, check your state budget bills. NHTSA is trying to get legislators to slip primary seatbelt laws into state budget bills, hoping they won't get noticed among all the pages of fine print, or, if they do get noticed, hoping that they won't get taken out. This is a rule violation in most states, since legislation is generally not allowed in appropriation bills.

Fatal car crash pictures. For years we had to do a lot of work to find pictures of fatal car crashes (see our picture gallery and the pictures further down on this page). No more. Now you can find scores of pictures of fatal car crashes on youtube, under such titles as "World's worst car crashes", "Super insane car crashes", "Deadly car crashes", Horrible car crashes", etc., etc.. Contrary to what the titles imply, this is what most fatal car crashes look like. The FARS data base tells us that that the average car involved in a fatal crash was travelling at 56 mph and the average car involved in a fatal head-on collision was travelling at 66 mph. Collisions at these speeds are enough to reduce most cars to scrap and to crush the occupants to death.

8_63_040909_angels_crash.jpg (16895 bytes)

Seatbelts, anyone? This is the car in which Los Angeles pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed by a drunk driver on April 9, 2009 (FOX News photo).

Seatbelts = death: Fayetteville Observer, 3/19/09. "...Williams was driving... when his SUV plunged into the Lumber river. His two passengers drowned. ...(they) were wearing seatbelts and were unable to escape."

No seatbelts  = minor injuries: Boston Herald, 3/23/09. "...two car crash.... travelling in close proximity at a high rate of speed (drag racing)...lost control at the same time and crashed into several trees...Dias, in front seat (of one of the cars) was killed. Neither Brandon nor his two passengers (in the other car) were wearing seatbelts. All three were treated for minor injuries and released." (Note: They do not say if Dias was wearing a seatbelt which means he probably was).

No seatbelts = minor injuries: "Jane (Clark)...hit a lamp post with such force that she knocked it over and overturned her small car.....She ruined the car but crawled out with nothing more serious than some ugly bruises". From "Kenneth Clark" by Meryle Secrest, page 88. (The car she was driving, a Wolseley Hornet, was not equipped with seatbelts).

Seatbelts kill: Toronto Star, March 16, 2009: "Total Horror:  ...Police yesterday recovered the bodies of Carolyn Bray and Joeline Robinson from the lake...The pair were riding in a two seat utility vehicle... carrying Robinson's niece in the back.... Bray's cart hit a pressure crack in the ice and went under. Jeni Robinson managed to jumpoff the back but Bray and Joelin, belted in and unable to free themselves as they were swallowed up by the frigid water, disappeared under the ice."

Seatbelts worthless: San Francisco Chronicle, October 16, 2008. "... the vehicle veered off the road, crossed a 30 foot shoulder, hopped an 18 inch embankment, and tumbled down more than 600 feet in darkness....The next morning rescuers found the three men, their seatbelts fastened, inside the vehicle. They were dead. The Jeep (Cherokee) was "rolled up to a ball" (Officer) Covello said. The cause of death for all three was blunt force trauma. An unsafe speed for conditions was a likely factor in the incident, (Officer) Covello said."

Seatbelts worthless: Daily Press (Virginia), December 30, 2008. "Owen Walter Carter.....driving a 2002 Chevrolet...ran off the road and struck a tree. (Police Sgt.) Cotten said Carter died at the scene. He was wearing a seatbelt".

Seatbelts?: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, March 22, 2008: "Two men were killed in a violent crash on Route 22...State police...said...Charles Maines...was driving "in a careless an unattentive manner". He lost control of his car...crossed over into oncoming traffic, striking a...minivan driven by Gerald A Wilson...Both men were trapped in their vehicles and (their bodies) had to be extricated by hydraulic equipment."

Ejected?: Western Morning News, Plymouth (UK) October 18, 2008. "Andrew Kelly received fatal injuries when his car and two others were in a collision...Emergency services battled for nearly two hours to free Mr. Kelly from the car". (Note: If he'd been "ejected" he might have lived.)

These are not exceptional cases. This is how most fatal automobile accidents happen.

Congressional appropriations to promote the seatbelt scam. Congress  passed HR 1105, the omnibus appropriaton bill for fiscal 2009. This bill  contains the following provisions: