--Anthony R. Foxx, secretary of transportation, United States
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/01/business/ferrari-fined-35-million-for-not-reporting-fatal-crashes.html?_r=1
The law in question is known as the "Early Warning Reporting" Law, which is under an implied banner that says: If you want to be an automobile manufacturer and sell cars in the United States, you have to do whatever the U.S. Government tells you to do. In this case, the government is telling everyone to report any fatal crashes that may occur as a result of driving one of that manufacturer's vehicles. But some manufacturers may not be up to date with that system.
And today, the manufacturer we shall use as an example is Ferrari. Ferrari has just been fined $3.5 million for failing to follow the law described above. They've already paid the fine and promised not to make the mistake again.
I know what you're thinking: Why is this important? I mean, isn't a fine the just punishment Ferrari deserves? Didn't they technically break the law?
Now, I know I said this blog wouldn't be political or controversial, and I'm going to stick to my word. Which means I'm technically not allowed to answer any of those questions. Yet. So here's the deal. July 2, 2014. The NHTSA receives a few strongly-worded letters containing "classified" information about how Ferrari......*gasp*......is HIDING information about fatal crashes!!!!! How dare they!!!!!
Now hold on a minute. What the heck does that mean, hiding about fatal crashes? How the heck do you hide a crash?
Anyone?
It took me about 30 seconds to find this:
In case you're wondering, no one was hurt in this video. Obviously this means it isn't fatal, but literally going to YouTube and searching "Ferrari crash" or something like that will bring up multiple examples of just how easy it is to find fatal crash footage.
So once again, how do you "hide" a fatal crash?
While we're on the subject, I might as well ask this too. Who cares if I know or not about Ferrari's fatal crashes? I sure as heck don't own a Ferrari. A lot of people don't. I'm also fairly certain that Ferrari owners aren't going to ditch their vehicles and go buy a Lamborghini either after hearing the news. I'm pretty sure the car I drive has been the subject of a fatal crash somewhere in the world, and it doesn't worry me that much.
Another thing: Who exactly are the manufacturers supposed to report the crashes to? A government agent? The President? CNN?
It's all just very interesting how vague this law is considering all the little details that one might consider. Some of you are probably saying right now: "Well, gee Tim, why are you making such a big deal out of this? Can't you just condemn Ferrari for its actions and be done with it?"
Well, if it were that easy, I would have said it in the first line of this post and then quit writing. You see, it's not as simple as that. What has Ferrari actually done wrong here? Under the "early warning system" the article says, 'automakers are required to disclose claims they receive that blame vehicle defects for serious injuries or deaths.'
Aha. So what's actually happened is the U.S. Government is displeased with Ferrari's safety ratings. That means that technically, Ferrari only has to report fatal crashes if the sole cause was a vehicle defect. The law says nothing about reckless driving or getting your camera wedged behind the brake pedal (that's what caused the wreck in the video above). This raises yet another question: How is the government supposed to know what caused each and every fatal crash? I mean, can someone provide a list of the crashes that were caused by a design flaw, and not the driver?
What I'm getting at here is that having to report fatal crashes doesn't mean anything unless someone can prove that a flaw in the vehicle's design is linked to a certain number of deaths, which in this case it isn't. Unlike General Motors, who knew for years that their Cobalt design flaw was linked to hundreds of deaths. Those situations demand a penalty because they specifically break the law for the reason why it exists. To limit the loss of life.
Is Ferrari really hiding anything here? From what it looks like, no one is really sure. Which is why the government shouldn't go around fining whomever they please until they have concrete evidence linking a design flaw to a certain number of deaths. In the GM case, they had proof of both. In Ferrari's case, we have proof of neither.
More Ferrari pictures for the heck of it........
And my favorite Ferrari.........
TSK
