“Fork” in America’s Road.

Posted on | February 6, 2025 | 4 Comments

“On September 9, 1966, around 200 people gathered in the White House Rose Garden as President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Motor Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act and the Highway Safety Act. President Johnson told them that nearly three times as many Americans had died in traffic accidents in the 20th century as died “in all our wars.”  U.S. Department of Transportation

Mike Magee

Trump and Elon Musk’s attempts to blow up the federal government have a “Ready, Fire, Aim” feel to them. But in actuality, their efforts are quite focused and highly calculated. Take for example the efforts to harass and eliminate the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Musk’s interest in this regulatory agency within the Department of Transportation clearly has nothing to do with cost savings or efficiency. With 565 federal employees and a budget of $35 million, it is a minor blip on the federal budget.  Its’ mission is “to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce economic costs due to road traffic crashes through education, research, safety standards, and enforcement activity.”

The NHTSA owes its existence to the 1966 Highway Safety Act signed in 1966 by President Lyndon Johnson. Congress took action after a disturbing 5-year run of escalating auto fatalities, amplified by national press coverage. At the center of that controversy was a young lawyer and professor at the University of Hartford named Ralph Nader who’s 1965 book, Unsafe at Any Speed,  argued that American cars were “generally unsafe to operate.”

Nader’s book especially focused on General Motors Chevrolet Corsair, with an in depth analysis of 100 lawsuits. GM CEO James Roche (channeling Elon Musk some 60 years later) set out to destroy Nader. His investigators taped Nader’s phone, hired prostitutes to compromise him, and followed him. Nader turned to his Connecticut state senator, Abe Ribicoff, for aid. Ribicoff’s under-oath Congressional inquiry resulted in Roche’s confession and ultimately a $425,000 settlement to Nader for invasion of privacy.

More importantly, it led Congress to support the creation of the National Traffic and Motor Safety Act, with Speaker of the House John William McCormack crediting the “crusading spirit of one individual who believed he could do something: Ralph Nader.”

That effort was a long time in coming. And a great deal has changed. In the 20th century, the number of cars and trucks on our roads grew 11-fold to 215 million. The number of drivers increased 6-fold. And yet, the annual death rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled declined over 90%  from 18 per 100 million VMT to 1.7 per 100 million VMT.

Over the last half century, this small federal agency has more than proven its worth. Their efforts delivered “new safety features, including head rests, energy-absorbing steering wheels, shatter-resistant windshields, and safety belts.”  Roads were redesigned including “better delineation of curves, edge and center line stripes and reflectors, use of breakaway sign and utility poles.” Public education and better licensing and laws curtailed drinking while driving, and enforced usage of safety belts, child-safety seats, motorcycle helmets, and penalties for texting while driving.”

On December 13, 2024, Trump and Musk signaled their intent to disable the NHSTB with a frontal attack on auto reporting requirements. As Forbes reported that day, “President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team wants to scrap a regulatory order requiring automakers to report crashes involving vehicles with automated driving systems, Reuters reported Friday, aligning with opposition to the rule by Elon Musk’s Tesla, which accounts for most crashes reported under the requirement so far.” 

How many Tesla crashes? 1,500 by that time. And crash reports were only the leading edge. “The recommendations ask the incoming Trump administration to ‘liberalize’ regulations on autonomous vehicles and enact ‘basic regulations’ that would enable development in the industry, the document said.”

Musk’s enemy number one in 2023 was the Acting Director of the NHSTB, Ann Carlson, who had the temerity to accelerate a probe into Tesla’s autopilot technology. Reuters reported that  the agency was investigating whether Tesla vehicles “adequately ensure drivers are paying attention.” A month earlier, Musk had directly challenged the authority throwing down the gauntlet on “X”. As Reuters explained, “A Dec. 31 tweet suggested drivers with more than 10,000 miles using Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ (FSD) software system should be able to disable the ‘steering wheel nag,’ an alert that instructs drivers to hold the wheel to confirm they are paying attention. Musk responded: ‘Agreed, update coming in Jan.’ “

Nine months later, Acting Director Carlson, was gone. Senate Republicans, led by Ted Cruz, strongly opposed her appointment, not only because Elon Musk was after her, but also because of her expertise in environmental law and interest in global warming. 

Cruz’s statement is rich, considering the recent unlawful actions of the executive branch, rubber stamped by the congressional controlled Republican Party. He wrote,  “In circumvention of the Senate’s constitutional responsibility to provide advice and consent on presidential nominations, you appointed Ms. Carlson to lead the agency after her nomination to be NHTSA administrator failed in the face of significant Senate opposition due to her extreme policy views, radical environmentalist record, and lack of vehicle safety experience.”

Signaling a desire to destroy the entire organization and not just its director, Team Musk also enlisted the help of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.  CEI, a conservative advocacy partner that “has spent the past 40 years fighting to reform America’s unaccountable regulatory state; to unleash innovation and allow mankind to flourish” tipped its’ hand. They stated, “The senators are right to be concerned with Carlson still leading NHTSA. There could be serious implications, including the possibility that many recent NHTSA rules could be invalid.”

As for the recent performance of the 565 employees of the NHTSA, the latest traffic fatality statistics for 2024 show a 4.4% decline compared to the prior year. Their most recent actions include requirements for automatic emergence breaking systems, new pedestrian protections, and advanced driver assistance technologies – all part of former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s National Roadway Strategy launched in January 2022.

These employees, along with all other federal employees, face Elon Musk’s “Fork” resignation deadline this evening. As NPR (also a target) reported today, “With just hours remaining for federal workers to decide whether to take the Trump administration’s offer to resign from their jobs now while keeping their pay and benefits through Sept. 30, a federal judge in Massachusetts issued a temporary restraining order and stayed today’s deadline.”

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