page_title: Unsafe at Any Speed
section_title: "Disaster deferred"
hierarchical_section_title: Unsafe at Any Speed / Organization and content / "Disaster deferred"
caption_attribution_description: English: Head-and-shoulders portrait of Ralph Nader
context_page_description: Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile is a landmark nonfiction book by consumer advocate Ralph Nader, first published in 1965. Its central theme charged car manufacturers of resistance to the introduction of safety features, and their general reluctance to spend money on improving safety. This pioneering work contains substantial references and material from industry insiders. It was a best seller in non-fiction in 1966.
context_section_description: Chapter 2 levels criticism on auto design elements such as instrument panels and dashboards that were often brightly finished with chrome and glossy enamels which could reflect sunlight or the headlights of oncoming motor vehicles into the driver's eyes. This problem, according to Nader, was well known to persons in the industry, but little was done to correct it.
  Nader also offered advice about the gear shift quadrants on earlier cars fitted with automatic transmissions. Several examples are given of people being run over, or runaway-cars because drivers were not familiar with the shift pattern, causing them to shift into reverse when intending to shift to park. Nader made an appeal to the auto industry to standardize gearshift patterns as a safety issue.
  Early automatic transmissions, including GM's Hydra-Matic, Packard's Ultramatic, and Borg Warner's automatic used by a number of independent manufacturers (Rambler, Studebaker) used a pattern of "P N D L R", which put Reverse at the bottom of the quadrant, next to Low which was contrary to the pattern used by other manufacturers. Drivers used to moving the shift lever all the way down for "low gear" would accidentally select "R" and would unexpectedly move the car backwards. In addition, other manufacturers, such as Chrysler, used a push-button selector to choose gear ranges. Ford was the first to use the "P R N D L" pattern, which separated Reverse from forward ranges by Neutral. Eventually this pattern became the standard for all automatic-shift cars.
  Chevrolet's Powerglide, as used on the Corvair, used a "R N D L" pattern, which separated the Reverse from the Drive gears by neutral in the ideal way, but which had no "P" selection, only providing a parking brake.
  Chapter 2 also exposes problems in workmanship and the failure of companies to honor warranties.
caption: Ralph Nader in 1975
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