Month: May 2015

Who Owns Your Car? And Your Future?


Who Owns Your Car? And Your Future?

May, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

The Consumerist reports a surprise:“Congratulations! You just bought a new Chevy, GMC, or Cadillac. You really like driving it. And it’s purchased, not leased, and all paid off with no liens, so it’s all yours… isn’t it? Well, no, actually: according to GM, it’s still theirs. You just have a license to use it.

At least, that’s what an attorney for GM said at a hearing this week, Autoblog reports. Specifically, attorney Harry Lightsey said, “It is [GM’s] position the software in the vehicle is licensed by the owner of the vehicle.””  Seehttp://consumerist.com/2015/05/20/gm-that-car-you-bought-were-really-the-ones-who-own-it/

When your past, present, and future safety are under corporate control…is that a new form of slavery?
Gandhi taught that one of the Seven Deadly Sins was “Commerce Without Morality”.
Lou

 

Takata Airbags Changed in 2008


Takata Airbags Changed in 2008

May, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:“TOKYO (Bloomberg) — Troubled airbag supplier Takata Corp. began changing the safety devices in 2008 to reduce the risk that humidity would cause them to deploy abnormally, three people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.”

See Automotive News article and Related Stories at http://www.autonews.com/article/20150520/OEM11/150529994/1509

Also see Timeline by Reuters at http://www.autonews.com/article/20150520/OEM10/150529992/1509/timeline-of-takata-airbag-recalls

 

NHTSA Administrator Rosekind and Jeep Gas Tank Defect Recall


NHTSA Administrator Rosekind and Jeep Gas Tank Defect Recall

May, 2015

Dear care for Crash Victims Community Members:

On July 2, 2015 NHTSA will hold a public hearing on the Jeep Recall.

Automotive News in an informative report notes NHTSA improvement:

“Five months into his tenure, Rosekind is delivering on that pledge. In a rapid-fire series of actions last week, his agency:

• Summoned Fiat Chrysler’s U.S. arm to a July 2 public hearing to review a “pattern” of alleged problems with executing 20 recalls since 2013.

• Exacted an acknowledgment from Takata Corp. of an airbag defect in some 34 million vehicles.

• Extended its extraordinary oversight of General Motors’ safety operations for at least another year.

The whirlwind week was the clearest sign yet of Rosekind’s growing imprint on the agency, which has come under heavy criticism in recent years that it’s too timid, too slow and too cozy with the industry it polices. With the latest actions, he is invoking extraordinary powers and tools to clear up logjams on recalls, pressure automakers and get unsafe cars off the road.

Said Joan Claybrook, who ran the agency under President Jimmy Carter and has been a frequent critic of it since: “I think we have a new sheriff in town.”  

See

http://www.autonews.com/article/20150524/OEM11/305259967/nhtsas-rosekind-lays-down-the-law-and-the-industry-is-rattled

Representatives of crash victims are calling for criminal investigations of Fiat Chrysler for crash deaths.  See 

What is sadly foreseeable is that there will be more tragedies before effective remedies will be in place to prevent them.
Lou

 

Law Professors on GM Recalls and Government Failures


Law Professors on GM Recalls and Government Failures

May, 2015

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

Please see this excellent article – that many Americans should read – by two leading Law Professors that concludes:“GM’s success in working the system must be offset by criminal culpability, on both the corporate and individual level, for leaving consumers to drive in ticking time bombs for so many years.”

See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rena-steinzor/gm-and-its-no-good-very-bad_b_7191124.html

Lou