Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
The NY Times published an excellent story and video of the heartaches suffered by crash victims in GM crashes.
“Mr. Erickson, 25, was one of the 13 victims whose deaths General Motors has linked to an ignition switch defect that can cause a loss of power in cars, according to an email that Mr. Erickson’s mother, Rhonda, received from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Ms. Erickson asked the federal agency whether her son was among the 13 victims at the request of The New York Times, which has compiled the identities and circumstances of 12 of the deaths, as well as information about the vehicle involved in the 13th, based on interviews, accident databases and communications from federal regulators.
The email to Ms. Erickson last week was the first time the family had been told that anything other than negligence by Ms. Anderson contributed to the accident.”
See http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/27/business/13-deaths-untold-heartache-from-gm-defect.html?hp
The NY Times Timeline reveals that two lawsuits were settled by GM under CEO Dan Akerson while NHTSA was headed by David Strickland. Neither Akerson nor Strickland have been called to testify yet.
“September 2010
G.M. Daniel Akerson becomes CEO.
February 2011
Accidents and lawsuits
The Chansuthus family settles its lawsuit against G.M. Even though Ms. Chansuthus’s blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit, the company pays the family an undisclosed amount….”
“September 2013
Accidents and lawsuits G.M. settles the case involving Ms. Melton, paying the family an undisclosed amount.”
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/05/18/business/gms-ignition-problem-who-knew-what-when.html
The powerful voices of victims can help GM and NHTSA realize that: What is not good for the people is not good for GM, NHTSA, or anyone working in the auto industry.
Hopefully, stories of crash victims will bring us all closer to the day when the century of auto industry war against safety ends. As can be seen from the U.S.A. Crash death clock, accessed this morning, about 3,633,788 people have died of crash injuries. That indicates a lot of “Untold Heartache.” See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/clock.php
