Joan Buckler Claybrook (born June 12, 1937) is an American lawyer and lobbyist who was president of Public Citizen from 1982 to 2009.
Between college and law school, she worked in the congressional liaison's office at the Social Security Administration for six years before moving to Washington, D.C., in 1965 to complete a fellowship with the American Political Science Association.
[3] Prior to her time with NHTSA, Claybrook ran Congress Watch, worked for the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), the National Traffic Safety Bureau, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
During her early years in Washington, D.C., she met Ralph Nader while advocating for improving highway and auto safety.
Some of these rules, such as her mandate that speedometers read no higher than 85 miles per hour, proved unpopular with U.S. car owners and were later overturned.