The Sack of Detroit: General Motors and the End of American Enterprise

This book primarily deals with General Motors during the years 1965 and 1966 when consumer crusader Ralph Nader published his book "Unsafe at any Speed". Although I lived during this time period and was fully aware about the controversy surrounding the first generation Chevrolet Corvair, I was not aware that both Consumer Reports and the later American government automotive testing found no fault with the safety of this vehicle. The whole story feels similar to governments around the world and their desire to destroy big tech companies. A great read.

Mr. Whyte's book is a needed contribution to the history of automotive safety in the United States. His book recounts the infamous Ribicoff hearings of the 1965-66, which culminated in passage of the Vehicle Safety Act. This federal law created the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). NHTSA sets safety standards governing the sale of new motor vehicles (and parts) as well as overseeing automobile recalls.As Whyte details, much of this federal law was based on overreaction to perceived issues with the Chevrolet Corvair. Further overreaction resulted from GM's boneheaded move to spy on Ralph Nader. Nader served as the "key witness" to Ribicoff's hearings. Whether Nader is as pure as he holds himself out to be is up for question, as Whyte demonstrates. For example, the nature of Nader's ties to the trial attorneys involved in litigation against General Motors remained fuzzy. Overreaction is often a typical legislative response to an isolated issue. Here, for example, Congress should have focused on encouraging drivers to buckle up, drive sober, and within the speed limits. Those three things would have done a lot more to saving lives than creating yet another federal bureaucracy. In fact, other countries that have focused on those three things have far exceeded the United States in terms of road safety.The book should be read by any automotive historian, automotive engineer, auto safety lawyer, journalist, and any car buff. Regardless where you stand on the issue of causal factors of automobile crashes, this book presents a balanced approach to weighing evidence on both sides, concluding that the focus on crash avoidance would have served the nation better than the obsession with crashworthiness (second collision).

Refreshing more balanced take on US auto industry of the 1950’s and 60’s. Ralph Nader was indeed a pioneer that often read the evidence to his exclusive advantage. Automobiles made in the U.S. were comfortable and capable for the time, with many innovations. The refusal of Mr.Nader to consider driver’s actions (including high ethanol blood levels and no seat belts) created the myth of unsafe at any speed and the holy grail of a “safe car” independent of driver’s behavior. As recent history has proven, it is next to impossible to design cars’ structure and interior to prevent severe injuries of un-belted passengers, and a drunk driver has a very high risk of killing himself and the innocents around him. The damage to innovation and safety of the crusader Nader has propagated over decades and delayed introduction if safe restrain systems and serious efforts to remove drunks from behind the wheel.

A good read concerning long term events in Detroit that brought the US automakers to their knees...

Interesting. Did not care for his writing style. Jumped around a bit