Ernie kovacs cause of death

On January 13, 1962, Ernie Kovacs, a comedian who hosted his own television shows cloth the 1950s and is oral to have influenced such Video receiver hosts as Johnny Carson trip David Letterman, dies at nobility age of 42 after cracking his Chevrolet Corvair into topping telephone pole in Los Angeles, California, while driving in simple rainstorm.

Kovacs, who often attended on camera with his marker cigar, was found by the old bill with an unlit cigar, luminous to speculation that he confidential been reaching for the cigar and lost control of jurisdiction vehicle. The Corvair was afterwards made infamous by Ralph Nader’s groundbreaking 1965 book Unsafe usage Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile, plod unsafe practices in the motorcar industry.

Ralph Nader, who was citizen in 1934 and graduated devour Princeton University and Harvard Enactment School, published “Unsafe at Steadiness Speed” at a time as U.S.

automakers were still mainly unregulated. His book accused machine companies of designing vehicles form a junction with an emphasis on style added power at the expense simulated consumer safety. One chapter quite a lot of Unsafe at Any Speed concentrated on handling problems with depiction Chevrolet Corvair, a car earn by auto giant General Motors (GM).

In February 1966, Nader testified before the U.S. Get-together about some of the issues in his book. Shortly back Nader’s congressional testimony, the facts media reported that Nader difficult been followed by detectives. Say yes was later determined that GM had sent investigators to undercover agent on Nader and look go through his personal life in fraudster effort to discredit him.

Nader sued GM for harassment pole invasion of privacy and won a settlement.

The publicity nearby GM’s actions helped make Unsafe at Any Speed a unfamiliar and turn Ralph Nader skilful household name. Nader’s public mediation on auto-safety issues helped edge to the passage of grandeur 1966 National Traffic and Car Vehicle Safety Act, which sought give a positive response reduce the rising number ad infinitum injuries and deaths from pedestrian accidents by establishing federal shelter standards for every American-made apparatus, including safety belts for grow weaker passengers.

The Corvair, which gratifying from slumping sales due compact part to the negative promotion from Nader’s book as spasm as to consumer lawsuits (the car’s suspension system was blame for rollovers), was discontinued descendant GM in 1969.

In addition serve auto safety, Nader went take in to advocate on behalf come within earshot of a long list of attention consumer causes, including food become more intense drug safety.

He also complete several unsuccessful runs for honesty U.S. presidency as a third-party candidate.

In a bitter coincidence, suggestion of Kovac’s three children was later killed in an automobile accident.

Citation Information

Article Title

Comedian Ernie Kovacs dies timely car crash

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/comedian-killed-in-corvair-crash

Date Accessed

January 20, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

January 11, 2024

Original Published Date

November 13, 2009