Longtime consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader – author of the ‘Unsafe at Any Speed’ book that doomed GM’s Chevrolet Corvair in the 1960s – contends the auto industry has failed to push technology that could make vehicles safer, cleaner and more fuel efficient, according to a report.
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The Associated Press (AP) said Nader accuses the government of acting as a “consulting firm” for US vehicle makers and wants to open an office in Detroit to monitor the industry that helped propel him to fame 40 year ago.
“My indignation level is rising again. The gap between the government’s dereliction and these kinds of efficient, safe, clean technologies has never been greater,” Nader said in a recent interview with AP. “NHTSA’s now a consulting firm for Detroit.”
AP noted that Nader’s 1965 book, “Unsafe at Any Speed,” pointed to safety problems in the Chevrolet Corvair, leading to congressional hearings and federal safety laws and added that he has not ruled out a presidential bid in 2008, saying he will decide sometime after November’s mid-term elections.
The news agency noted that Nader has refocused his attention on the industry at a time when General Motors and Ford are downsizing as they deal with growing health care and pension obligations and intense competition from Asian automakers.
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By GlobalDataNader reportedly has urged the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to improve a proposed roof crush standard, calling it insufficient. Last August, he urged the government to warn consumers about Ford pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles under investigation for a defect that may have caused engine fires.
And last month, he released a lengthy report describing several missed opportunities to improve fuel efficiency and safety in vehicles, AP added. The report by his Centre for Study of Responsive Law argued that automakers have suppressed technological advances by suppliers; insurance providers have failed to offer incentives for safer vehicles; and the government has been reluctant to improve technology in its fleet vehicles.
“There’s a huge backlog of practical technologies for improving the safety of motor vehicles, their fuel efficiency, emission controls, ease of repair that are piling up on the shelf and not being implemented,” Nader told The Associated Press.
The news agency noted that Nader has numerous critics, including motor industry officials who view Nader and consumer groups that he helped develop as adversaries who fail to acknowledge the high costs of some of the technologies.
NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson reportedly defended the Bush administration’s progress in vehicle safety, noting that fatality rates have reached an all-time low and seat belt use has reached new heights.
AP added that automakers point to safety upgrades in recent years driven by competition and the realisation that safety sells. Side air bags are available on about 75% of new vehicles and will be standard equipment by 2009. Anti-rollover technology such as electronic stability control is available on more than 60% of 2006 models.
“Public demand for safety technology is at an all-time high and automakers are responding to that by engineering more safety technology into the vehicles,” Eron Shosteck, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, told The Associated Press.
