USDOT IG letter of referral

Sept. 25th notice to NHTSA Offices

Steven Crowell P.O. Box 303  Eastham, MA 02642

NHTSA Headquarters

NHTSA Administrator – David Strickland

NHTSA Deputy Administrator- Ronald Medford

Senior Associate Administrator – Brian McGlaughlin

Associate Administrator – Research & Program Development – Jefferey Michael

Impaired Driving & Occ. Prot. – Michael Brown

Safety Programs – Michael Geraci

Behavioral Safety Research – Richard Compton

Emergency Medical Services – Drew Dawson

Senior Associate Administrator – Vehicle Safety – Daniel C. Smith

Associate Administrator – Rulemaking – Christopher Bonati
Crashworthiness Standards – Lori Summers

Associate Administrator – Enforcement – Nancy Lewis

Defects Investigation – Frank Borris

Vehicle Safety Compliance – Claude Harris

Associate Administrator – Vehicle Safety Research – John Maddox

Vehicle Research & Testing Center – Roger Saul

Vehicle Crashworthiness Research – Stephen Ridella

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE

West Building
Washington, DC 20590


Dear Mr.Strickland, et al,
            I have been given a 30 year ‘run-around’ by the USDOT-NHTSA.
            I need help correcting the violations found in automobile interior partition performance.
Partitions are used in four major applications: Police Cruisers, Limousines, Utility Vans, and Taxicabs.

The losses in cruisers and taxis are astronomical. Officers rendered unconscious from post-cranial partition impact have died because they were burned to death after high speed rear-end collisions. Officers have seen 300 prisoners flee with the cruiser despite the partition. Many officers have boasted about using the steel grid of the partition to deliberately injure prisoners by slamming on the brake needlessly.

The losses in taxicabs are higher still, due to the greater human exposure and greater road exposure. The NHTSA makes mention of “trading off passenger safety” for allegations of “operator protection from assailants”. This is unacceptable. There is no operator protection from assailants with partition use. Evaluation of the partition in taxi robbery scenarios is not an area of USDOT expertise. Trading off safety is illegal. Injuries, in cabs with partitions (due to illegal partition hazards) are four times higher than injuries without partitions.

The agency in violation in NYC is the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission, for requiring, inspecting and approving sub-standard, un-certified, dangerous partitions. In Boston and other cities there are cab regulators that do the same.

The attached documents show how inconsistent NHTSA has been as the injuries and deaths continue for 40 plus years. Randy Reid writes in 2012 that there are no safety laws for partitions. He also says that cruisers and taxis are exempt from USDOT law. This is in contradiction with letters from Frank Armstrong - Motor Vehicle Safety Compliance Enforcement Section Director in 1984 and Jefferey Miller - USDOT Chief Counsel in 1985.

The NYC T&LC claims that the Nissan NV200 will be the first partition-equipped taxi to be crash tested, with a partition installed. Nonsense! This will be the first time they will be crash tested with dummies instead of live humans. Can you tell me who is conducting the tests?

Please help me reconcile this disparity and correct the numerous violations of taxi regulators, state vehicle inspectors and partition manufacturers.

Thank you,

Steve Crowell
stvcrowell@yahoo.com   YouTube videos can be seen with doctors comments about partition injury and death at YouTube channel “midnight9991”  508-348-4105

USDOT Insp. gen. handoff to Chief Counsel of NHTSA

MA Atty Gen Rejection