Customer Reviews

Unsafe at any speed; the designed-in dangers of the American automobile

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As a Traffic Safety Specialist, this book is a MUST, this old book needs to be mandatory reading for any person interested in Road Safety, Ralph documented the resistance of car companies to the introduction of safety features, like safety belts, that looks timely today, for example with the lobby that produce a delay in the mandatory fitting of air bags. Also you will learn how the primitive road safety components, still used in USA, called the three E's (Engineering, Enforcement, Education ) was born as a device to direct the efforts to the community away from the real problems of safety of the vehicles, some of the that was sell with tires that don't resist the weight of the fully loaded vehicle !.

Finally you can understand the lacking level of road safety in US versus European countries that have in service safety policies that will reduce the absolute number of killed by 30% over 5 years.

This book is the necessary building stone to the effort to make car manufacturers accountable for the safety level of his products.

I can't understand why some publisher is not doing a new edition of it.

As a Traffic Safety Specialist, this book is a MUST, this old book needs to be mandatory reading for any person interested in Road Safety, Ralph documented the resistance of car companies to the introduction of safety features, like safety belts, that looks timely today, for example with the lobby that produce a delay in the mandatory fitting of air bags. Also you will learn how the primitive road safety components, still used in USA, called the three E's (Engineering, Enforcement, Education ) was born as a device to direct the efforts to the community away from the real problems of safety of the vehicles, some of the that was sell with tires that don't resist the weight of the fully loaded vehicle !.

Finally you can understand the lacking level of road safety in US versus European countries that have in service safety policies that will reduce the absolute number of killed by 30% over 5 years.

This book is the necessary building stone to the effort to make car manufacturers accountable for the safety level of his products.

I can't understand why some publisher is not doing a new edition of it.

This is one of the best books you will ever read as a consumer or environmentalist. You will love the way Nader brings to shame the Automotive Industries of the 50s and 60s on the issues of saftey and health (which should be the most important, duh!). His persuasive skill to make logic so obvious is fantasic.

I have just a quick story that might amuse Nader fans. In the mid eighties I was working at Oberlin College in Ohio, where I believe Ralph Nader's son was going to school. At lunchtime when I arrived at my car (a '67 Corvair) 2 men in suits were standing in front of it and in a deep discussion concerning it. Mr. Nader introduced himself, which then took a minute to sink in, and we briefly discussed the demise of my car's production. He explained that the "fatal" flaws with the Corvair had been rectified for my updated model that was introduced in '65. The main faults, as the book clearly explains, were the one piece steering column which impaled the driver in head on collisions (today they are collapsable thanks to him), and the rear suspension swing arm arrangement which caused the rear wheel to tuck under the chassis in hard cornering which causes a catastrophic roll over. He told me that he really liked the later Corvairs. Then he joked that he wishes he had bought eight of them back when you couldn't give one away because now he could sell them for a fortune. I didn't burst his bubble...Corvairs are still a bargain collectable. And the early ones are STILL unsafe at any speed.

As a Traffic Safety Specialist, this book is a MUST, this old book needs to be mandatory reading for any person interested in Road Safety, Ralph documented the resistance of car companies to the introduction of safety features, like safety belts, that looks timely today, for example with the lobby that produce a delay in the mandatory fitting of air bags. Also you will learn how the primitive road safety components, still used in USA, called the three E's (Engineering, Enforcement, Education ) was born as a device to direct the efforts to the community away from the real problems of safety of the vehicles, some of the that was sell with tires that don't resist the weight of the fully loaded vehicle !.

Finally you can understand the lacking level of road safety in US versus European countries that have in service safety policies that will reduce the absolute number of killed by 30% over 5 years.

This book is the necessary building stone to the effort to make car manufacturers accountable for the safety level of his products.

As a Traffic Safety Specialist, this book is a MUST, this old book needs to be mandatory reading for any person interested in Road Safety, Ralph documented the resistance of car companies to the introduction of safety features, like safety belts, that looks timely today, for example with the lobby that produce a delay in the mandatory fitting of air bags. Also you will learn how the primitive road safety components, still used in USA, called the three E's (Engineering, Enforcement, Education ) was born as a device to direct the efforts to the community away from the real problems of safety of the vehicles, some of the that was sell with tires that don't resist the weight of the fully loaded vehicle !.

Finally you can understand the lacking level of road safety in US versus European countries that have in service safety policies that will reduce the absolute number of killed by 30% over 5 years.

This book is the necessary building stone to the effort to make car manufacturers accountable for the safety level of his products.

The Corvair was the Pinto of the '60s. Ralph Nadir was the first to say, "Enough is enough!" and took the Big Three to the mat, in this case just Chevrolet. If you liked Roger and Me you must have to read this book--it will change the way you look at modern day power structure. To think one man who came to define "consumer advocate" could topple a mighty giant of American Indusrty! This car was dangerous because the company tried to cut costs on the rear suspension, but all they saved was $4 per car!!! Incredable to believe human life could mean so little to some, but that is why you must to read this book.

The first section tells about the events since this book was published in 1965. Cars were built without any safety standards or to keep repair costs low (p.42). Replacement parts were big business (p.lxxiv). [They still are; note the placement of rear lights at the edge.] There was an increased rate of death and injuries from accidents (p.xlv). Auto manufacturers conspired to prevent pollution controls (p.lxix). The "sporty Corvair" had problems that were due to its design and cost cutting (Chapter 1). Quality control did not catch the known problems. Car magazines (and others) depend on advertising to survive (p.17), they can't freely criticize automobiles. People were kept ignorant about the products they bought. [Has that changed?] The Corvair required unusual tire pressures (p.23). Low tire pressure can lead to a blow-out. The Corvair oversteered, a dangerous condition (p.29). Was this caused by top management (p.39)? Tolerating needless defects "is a symbol of a much deeper malaise" (p.41). The dangers of an "ordinary swing axle" were known except to buyers.

Chapter 2 tells of many defects found in new automobiles. The danger and solution to the second collision is in Chapter 3. The military lost more men by automobile accidents than in combat in Korea (p.87). [A statistic that ignores rates.] This chapter explains the changes in car designs since the 1960s. That second place of Ford is usual (p.118). The link between automobile exhaust and smog was documented in 1950 (Chapter 4). Auto companies objected to lowering emissions but gave no reasons (p.165). [To keep prices down?] Who benefits from pollution (p.169)? Nader states the number of deaths by automobiles went up by 25% since 1961 but doesn't link that to any increase in drivers and automobiles (p.170). Travel always had danger. Most accidents that produce fatalities occur under 40 MPH (p.176). [Local driving.] Do SAE standards improve safety (p.191)? Do odometers read high by design (p.196)? [To avoid the speed limit?]

Stylists are important for selling automobiles; people buy on the basis of "looks" since they have no other standard. Does style imply decadence (p.212)? An emotional plea (p.213)? Style's triumph was the Ford Mustang (p.217). Tail fins were a style that killed (p.225). The traffic safety establishment blamed the victims and ignored the vehicle (Chapter 7). Were manufacturers not liable for their products (p.238)? Automobile manufacturers funded and controlled the traffic safety establishment (p.243). Should the Underwriter's Laboratories inspect and evaluate motor vehicles (p.250)? Press the brakes when setting the parking brake (p.253)! Insurance companies profit from death and injuries (p.255)! Connecticut's crackdown on speeding caused more injuries (p.266). Does driver education have any value (p.288)? Does the number of highway police affect the accident rate (p.289)? [Yes.] Do 10% of the drivers have 50% of the accidents (p.280)? [But what "10%"?] Does speeding cause accidents (p.290)? [Its relative.]

Congressman Kenneth Roberts of Alabama pressed for automobile safety in July 1956 (Chapter 8). Accidents are inevitable so automobiles must be made safer (p.297). The GSA emphasized vehicle safety (p.301). Tires were overloaded for their vehicles (p.317)! There was no objective measure of quality (p.318). What do those failures say about the management and owners of automobile companies? The best safety measure is a crashworthy automobile (p.344). Who benefits from unsafe automobiles? [The powerful insurance companies can charge more and make a higher profit from unsafe automobiles.] Appendix G has the epitaph on the Corvair.
[This is from the 1973 hardcover book.]

This is a book that should be on every high school curriculum, along with Huck Finn, Anne of Green Gables, the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Hamlet, and The Wealth of Nations.

Is it a masterpiece of literature or fine writing ? No.

And yet, it is, without question one of the more important, and ultimately influential, books written in the United States in the 20th century.

It should probably be read in conjunction with "My Years at General Motors" by Alfred P. Sloan. Both are great works by great men, from very different perspectives.

Listed by Human Events as a "(dis)honorable mention" the "Most Harmful Books of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries", Ralph Nader's "Unsafe at Any Speed" remains the most famous work of one of the major social critics in the US during the last half of the twentieth century.

The book was a result of Nader's examination of problems associated with the Chevrolet Corvair, a unique rear-engined "compact" (actually large) car whose layout led to severe problems with steering, tyre pressures and stability on the road. This resulted in many accidents that Nader shows could have been avoided with a better-designed car.

The remainder of "Unsafe At Any Speed" deals with the history of road safety and showed in great detail how car companies, concerned only with sales, will always do very little to make their cars safer. Instead, Nader shows, the focus has been on styling without any consideration of the possibilities that styling which would appeal to many consumers will be necessarily very dangerous in the event of an accident. He shows especially how this method of design made steering columns and instrument panels dangerous.

The problem with "Unsafe at Any Speed" is that whilst its findings have had some success in reducing the rate of traffic accidents, there is clear evidence that the success has been largely if not completely overturned by changes in either driving habits or methods of transportation that serve to increase the number of road accidents per year. Driver error as a cause of accidents is clearly of much greater importance than Nader would have wished.

Those on the far right argue that safety laws like airbags have unintended consequences that nullify any gains, whilst those whose focus has been transport planning have clearly shown that unless the immense wastage on roads that goes on unopposed in Australia and Red America is completely eliminated there is little likelihood anything can be done. Also, the effect of pollution regulations has been often to increase rather than decrease fuel consumption.

Though Nader points out that older, larger cars with rigid frames had many advantages over more space-efficient unitary construction designs, this has been overcome to a great extent since the book came out.

All in all, whilst "Unsafe at Any Speed" is a critical read to understand why we have so many car safety laws, its content today, unlike Silent Spring, seems distinctly quaint.