Senate Hearing on GM Recall Today at 10:00am
July, 2014
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Category: Blog
GM Recalls: How GM Silenced a Whistle-Blower on Dangerous Defects
GM Recalls: How GM Silenced a Whistle-Blower on Dangerous Defects
June, 2014
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Bloomberg reports: “It was close to 3 a.m. on June 6 when Courtland Kelley burst into his bedroom, startling his wife awake.General Motors (GM), Kelley’s employer for more than 30 years, had just released the results of an investigation into how a flawed ignition switch in the Chevrolet Cobalt could easily slip into the “off” position—cutting power, stalling the engine, and disabling airbags just when they’re needed most. The part has been linked to at least 13 deaths and 54 crashes…. “The “Valukas Report,” named for former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas, who assembled it at GM’s request from interviews with 230 witnesses and 41 million documents, blamed a culture of complacency for the more than decade-long delay before the company recalled millions of faulty vehicles. It described employees passing the buck and committees falling back on the “GM nod”—when everyone in a meeting agrees that something should happen, and no one actually does it. On page 93, a GM safety inspector named Steven Oakley is quoted telling investigators that he was too afraid to insist on safety concerns with the Cobalt after seeing his predecessor “pushed out of the job for doing just that.” Reading the passage, Kelley felt like he’d been punched in the gut. The predecessor Oakley was talking about was Kelley.”
See also article on GM power over the past decade athttps://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/CFCV-MonthlyReport-March2014-2%20.pdf
Lou
Stopping Rolling Defect Dangers To Us All
Stopping Rolling Defect Dangers To Us All
June, 2014
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Automotive News Publisher Keith Crain has again done the public and the auto industry an important service. He has endorsed a solution to stopping Rolling Defect Dangers.
“I recently had a conversation with Joan Claybrook, former head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about the extremely low rate of recalled vehicles that actually get repaired.
I have heard some pretty low compliance numbers over the years — less than 20 percent on some recalls, depending on how serious the consumers consider the situation.
But even on the most serious recalls, the percentage of owners who get their cars and trucks fixed is mighty low — even with the manufacturer paying the tab.
Joan’s suggestion is so simple it makes you wonder why it hasn’t been tried: If a vehicle hasn’t had all recall repairs made, the owner can’t register it to operate on the road.”
See
Trial Lawyers Publish a Report on History of Litigation Landmarks in Auto Safety
June, 2014
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Trial lawyers Report “Driven to Safety” is available at:http://www.driventosafety.org/
Trial lawyers have done a lot of good over the decades for crash safety. But in my humble opinion, not nearly enough. Over the period covered by these “successes” more than 2 million Americans have died of crash injuries and about another 8 million suffered serious injuries.
Read this report and note: * Nader is mentioned but only in a footnote. * Advocates and leaders such as Joan Claybrook and Clarence Ditlow, not mentioned.
* Insurance industry contributions not mentioned.
* Contributions of scientists and engineers in industry and government such as Dr. Haddon, not mentioned.
* Engineer who identified GM switch defect, not named.
* GM Switch comparison graphic in small print on p.5 shows the force difference in the new switch was nearly doubled. But the authors describe the difference simply as 1.6 mm longer.
My plea to trial lawyers: You can, and must, do better.
Lou
Warning: CarMax Selling Unsafe, Recalled Used Cars
Warning: CarMax Selling Unsafe, Recalled Used Cars
June, 2014
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Rosemary Shahan asks that we spread the word. NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/25/automobiles/consumer-groups-ask-ftc-to-investigate-carmax.html?ref=automobiles&_r=0 LA Times / Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/la-fi-hy-carmax-deceptive-advertising-20140624,0,1951105.story Detroit News https://www.autoblog.com/2014/06/26/ftc-urged-halt-deceptive-carmax-ads-recalled-car-issue/ Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/24/carmax-investigation-idUSL4N0P53XZ20140624
Automotive Newshttp://www.autonews.com/article/20140624/RETAIL/140629943/consumer-groups-seek-carmax-probe-over-deceptive-ads Wall Street Journalhttp://online.wsj.com/articles/consumer-safety-groups-seek-ftc-probe-of-carmax-1403643100?mod=yahoo_hs
Sen. Schumer’s release: http://www.schumer.senate.gov/Newsroom/record.cfm?id=352957
GM Recalls: GM VP Knew of Switch Problem in 2005, Delphi Investigation & New Numbers
GM Recalls: GM VP Knew of Switch Problem in 2005, Delphi Investigation & New Numbers
June, 2014
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Bloomberg reports Barra Confidante knew in 2005
“A top product-development executive still working at General Motors Co. (GM) was, as an engineer, involved in deliberations about a deadly ignition flaw kept from the public, newly released documents indicate.
Doug Parks, a vehicle chief engineer for the Chevrolet Cobalt in 2005, was involved in the debate over whether it was worth the cost to redesign a faulty ignition switch that had been installed on millions of cars, according to company e-mails and documents released yesterday by congressional investigators. He would later become vice president of global product programs under Mary Barra, now GM’s chief executive officer.
Barra, who rose from product development to become CEO in January, has tried to manage the fallout over the delayed switch recall by assuring lawmakers that GM’s corporate culture regarding safety has changed. While GM has ousted 15 people over the switch defect and two other senior engineers involved retired, Parks remains.”
See http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-26/gm-documents-show-engineer-went-against-company-panel.html
NY Times reports Senate Investigating Delphi
“Senate investigators are widening the scope of the inquiry into General Motors’ decade-long failure to recall cars with a defective ignition switch to also focus on the supplier that made the flawed part.”
NY Times also publishes Graphic showing that in North America in 2014, the total number of GM Recalled vehicles currently = 20,013,649. Now NHTSA needs to publish numbers of vehicles still repaired on the roads endangering Americans. NHTSA also needs to publish the data it has on Recalls by each automaker. See NY Times Graphic on GM at:http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/Recalls-Running-Total.jpg?action=click&contentCollection=Business%20Day&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article
These reports hold promise of more safety progress as the public learns more about the enormity of the problem and the focus moves up the chain of command. Hopefully America will do as well with these “Safetygate” investigations as we were able to do with Watergate.
Lou
GM Scandal Reminiscent of Watergate
GM Scandal Reminiscent of Watergate
June, 2014
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Cover-up
June 6, 2014, Washington Post Front Page Headline: “GM: Faulty ignitions were not covered up”
Recall Nixon’s “I am not a crook.” See
June 6, 2014, NY Times, Front Page Headline: “G.M. Inquiry Cites Years of Neglect Over Fatal Defect” “Company Fires 15 in Handling of Ignition Tied to 13 Deaths – Chief Cleared”
Reporting on the GM Internal Investigation Valukas Report: “It seems like the best report money can buy,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, who had been highly critical of Ms. Barra at a hearing in April. “It absolves upper management, denies deliberate wrongdoing and dismisses corporate culpability.” Seehttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/06/business/gm-ignition-switch-internal-recall-investigation-report.html?action=click&contentCollection=Business%20Day&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article
Secrecy Another NY Times article addressed GM Secrecy.
“To the legal department at General Motors, secrecy ruled.
Employees were discouraged from taking notes in meetings. Workers’ emails were examined once a year for sensitive information that might be used against the company. G.M. lawyers even kept their knowledge of fatal accidents related to a defective ignition switch from their own boss, the company’s general counsel, Michael P. Millikin.
An internal investigation released on Thursday into the company’s failure to recall millions of defective small cars found no evidence of a cover-up. But interviews with victims, their lawyers and current and former G.M. employees, as well as evidence in the report itself, paint a more complete picture: The automaker’s legal department took actions that obscured the deadly flaw, both inside and outside the company.
While Mr. Millikin survived the dismissals this week of 15 G.M. employees tied to the delayed recall, his department was hit hard.” See
More Hearings and Investigations Ahead
Hopefully future investigations will be more independent and more penetrating than the Valukas report which focused on corporate culture, silos, and lower level employees.
“The report offered an extraordinary window into a company where employees avoided responsibility with a “G.M. salute” — arms crossed and pointing fingers at others — and the “G.M. nod,” which Ms. Barra described in the report as “the nod as an empty gesture.” The report also lays bare a bureaucracy that appeared to stun Mr. Valukas. “The Cobalt ignition switch passed through an astonishing number of committees,” he wrote. “But determining the identity of any actual decision-maker was impenetrable.” Seehttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/06/business/gm-ignition-switch-internal-recall-investigation-report.html?action=click&contentCollection=Business%20Day&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article
Hopefully, the hearings and investigations ahead will go up the GM chain of responsibilities and include NHTSA and the GM related political people that also had responsibilities and powers to prevent tragedies and protect past and future crash victims. See my March Report attached and at
Who is responsible for the last decade of crash deaths at https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-lastdecade.php
Let’s keep a good end in mind: To build a safer America through a NHTSA free – not captive – of auto industry influence, a safer GM, and a safer auto industry.
Lou
