Ralph Nader Publishes Unsafe at Any Speed Exposing Auto Industry's Deadly Design Choices

On November 30, 1965, attorney Ralph Nader published “Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile,” a meticulously researched indictment of the auto industry’s prioritization of styling and profits over passenger safety. The book documented how manufacturers knowingly designed and sold vehicles with lethal defects while actively resisting safety improvements and suppressing internal safety research.

Nader’s most devastating chapter focused on the Chevrolet Corvair, a rear-engine compact car whose swing-axle suspension caused it to flip during routine turns. General Motors knew about the defect from testing but released the car anyway, then refused to implement fixes that would cost as little as $15 per vehicle. Internal GM documents showed engineers had warned about the instability, but management chose to accept the deaths rather than the cost of correction.

Beyond the Corvair, Nader documented industry-wide practices: rigid, pointed dashboards that impaled occupants; steering columns that speared drivers; doors that flew open in collisions; inadequate door latches; and glass that shattered into deadly shards. He showed that manufacturers conducted crash testing but concealed the results and resisted safety research. When Cornell University’s crash injury research program published findings on injury mechanisms, manufacturers pressured them to stop.

The auto industry had captured the regulatory process completely. No federal safety standards existed. State regulations were minimal and unenforced. Industry-funded research dismissed safety concerns. The Automobile Manufacturers Association coordinated industry messaging, arguing that “driver error” caused accidents and that vehicle design was irrelevant. This framing shifted responsibility from manufacturers to victims.

Nader argued that the industry’s resistance to safety was not just negligence but a calculated business decision: safety improvements cost money and implied that current products were dangerous, potentially inviting lawsuits. Manufacturers preferred to accept a certain number of deaths as a cost of doing business.

The book sparked a national conversation about corporate responsibility and product safety. Combined with Senator Abraham Ribicoff’s hearings on auto safety, it created momentum that led to the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966. Nader became the symbol of consumer advocacy and launched a movement that achieved major regulatory victories in the following decade.