industry accountability | AnnaLeah & Mary

“29 Lives Lost = 1 Year in Jail for Coal Executive – Hundreds of Auto Deaths = Zero Jail Time”

This is the title of the latest email from Care for Crash Victims and the letter is below:

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

ABC News reports:

“Blankenship, former CEO of Massey Energy, was convicted in December of one of three counts against him for conspiring to “willfully violate mandatory mine health and safety standards” at the Upper Big Branch mine that claimed the lives of 29 men in an explosion on April 5, 2010. A federal safety inspection later found that “if basic safety measures had been in place… there would have been no loss of life at UBB [Upper Big Branch].”

Blankenship was sentenced today to one year in prison, plus one year’s supervised release and a $250,000 fine -– the maximum penalty for the conspiracy charge, according to ABC News’ local affiliate WCHS. Prosecutors had bemoaned such a short maximum sentence for what they called “monstrous” wrongdoing.” See

http://abcnews.go.com/US/coal-king-don-blankenship-year-prison-deadly-mine/story?id=38191606

In the auto safety field:

GM defect resulted in 174 deaths. See Criminal settlement at http://www.autosafety.org/cas-statement-gm-criminal-settlement-justice-department/

Jeep defect resulted in more than 100 deaths. See http://www.autosafety.org/jeep-grand-cherokee-fires-homepage/

Corporate and Government Executive Jail time = 0 days

This is one result of the U.S. government’s Vision Zero policy for crash deaths and serious injuries.

Lou

What is the government’s Vision Zero policy? Zero Deaths or Zero Jail Time? Who will pay the penalty for preventable crash deaths? When will the government step up to bring about tangible change through stringent measures?

Does a vehicle manufacturer bear responsibility for death and injury caused by a safety defect in their product?

Rear Seat Deaths; one more case of a deadly defect being ignored? The Hidden Danger of Riding in the Back Seat

Tell Obama you are standing with us in this: “Family Continues Fight for Trucking Safety”

Do it, President Obama, for We the People of this United States of America! #VisionZero

“At some point, somebody has to take personal responsibility & be accountable for the danger of this industry. More truck drivers are killed on the job than any other occupation. More than 500 truck drivers are killed every year in truck crashes. . . I don’t know any other industry where that’s allowed . . . and people are looking the other way.

“We need to have this prosecuted at the industry or company level, because that’s where the problem lies. . . The industry drives them harder and longer than they should. The result is catastrophic death and injury all across the country

“If we could get a change in some of the laws. . . to the point where company executives are criminally responsible for the violations of their drivers’ Hours of Service, you would see a lot of things change in the industry. You might see some changes that are long overdue,” says Jeff Burns, Truck Litigation Attorney.

Jeff Burns, National Transportation Counsel for the Truck Safety Coaltion, discusses the issue of truck crash prosecutions and the challenges facing victims of truck crashes. Prosecutors across the country are choosing not to prosecute those responsible for deadly truck crashes. Furthermore, drivers and companies are facing only minimal fines, much less than a speeding motorist, for reckless driving that results in an accident and/or death. Visit www.trucksafety.org for more information on how you can help in the fight to make our highways safer for everyone. June 14, 2011

Some previous posts which I have written on the issues of justice related to truck crashes: