Special Ombudsman Alert: Ombudsman pulls back endorsement of bills (A)8268 & (S)7545

As just one example of the statements made by these Auto Safety Groups I have chosen to quote directly from the statement forwarded to this ombudsman from the Center For Auto Safety as follows:

“The Center for Auto Safety writes today to express serious concerns regarding the consequences of Assembly Bill (A)8268 and Senate Bill (S)7545….Despite the significant dangers presented by recalled vehicles, these bills include a provision allowing dealers to sell used cars with unrepaired recalls. The bills do not require the recalls to be fixed, no matter how deadly, but merely that a consumer be notified about the unrepaired defect instead of fixing it. Why would any state encourage such behavior?”

This ombudsman has been an active participant with this group since the last quarter of the 20th century when he served as chairman of Ralph Nader’s Congress Watch and welcomed Nader on his first trip to Rockland County where the iconic consumer justice advocate hosted a “Consumer Survival Conference” at the Spring Valley Senior High School.

It is critical to note that our own Senator David Carlucci is a co-sponsor of (S)7545 and I have reached out to him to consider backing off this co-sponsorship in the same way that this ombudsman has now backed off his former endorsement of this bill. The rationale for my current decision and recommendation to our senator is based upon the consensus of at least four prominent Auto Safety Groups throughout the US, including the Center for Auto Safety, on the inherent dangers of this legislation.

I contacted the Office of Senator Carlucci about these developments. His press secretary indicated that the senator still supports the original bill as written. I invited the senator to explain why he feels the bill is sound in spite of the warning from the Center for Auto Safety.

See Senator Carlucci’s response here:

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