NHTSA Airbag Recall Estimates Off by 36%
September, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:http://www.autonews.com/article/20150901/OEM11/150909984/u.s.-drops-estimates-for-vehicles-equipped-with-defective-takata
Category: Blog
Safety And Justice
Safety And Justice
September, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:Department of Justice Acts – But Not For GM Crash Victims The NY Times reported: “WASHINGTON — Stung by years of criticism that it has coddled Wall Street criminals, the Justice Department issued new policies on Wednesday that prioritize the prosecution of individual employees — not just their companies — and put pressure on corporations to turn over evidence against their executives….” “The new rules take effect immediately, but they are not likely to apply to investigations that are far along, such as one into General Motors over defects. Prosecutors in New York are struggling to charge company employees over problems linked to the deaths of more than 100 people, partly because the laws governing car companies require that prosecutors show that the employees intended to break the law, a higher standard than in other industries like pharmaceuticals and food.” Seehttp://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/10/us/politics/new-justice-dept-rules-aimed-at-prosecuting-corporate-executives.html?ref=internationalCrash Victims Act An announcement by The Safety Institute: “Today, The Safety Institute (TSI) announces that the Melton family will sponsor the Vehicle Safety Watch List in memory of their daughter Brooke, who died in a 2010 crash caused by a well-known ignition switch defect in her 2005 Chevy Cobalt. “Brooke would still be alive if GM had acknowledged the ignition defect and fixed it. Brooke would be alive if the regulators had followed up on their own investigations which revealed the problem,” Ken Melton said. “It’s clear to us that the accountability systems we have in place don’t work as well as they should. The Watch List provides another tool, another way to look at defect trends. So, we are investing in a process that can help uncover emerging problems before they take more lives and turn into a full-blown crisis and cover-up.”
“Brooke Melton, 29, died when she skidded into another vehicle after the ignition module of her 2005 Cobalt slipped into the accessory position. Evidence produced in the Melton case showed that GM knew about that the ignition switch problem as early as 2001.
Brooke Melton’s 2010 death was initially deemed the result of a loss-of-control crash on a rainy night. But the Meltons’ persistence revealed GM’s longstanding knowledge that its defective ignition module that could shift out of the run position while a vehicle is underway, turning off the airbags at the same time it is cutting off the engine power, anti-lock brakes and power steering. In February 2014, after GM reported the defect and launched a limited recall, the Meltons asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to open an investigation into GM’s actions.
That investigation eventually led to $35 million in civil fines levied against GM, and nearly 15 million vehicles recalled. Congress held hearings on GM’s deception and NHTSA’s failures to probe the defect when it first learned about airbag deployment failures in 2007. The ignition switch defect is also at the center of a multi-district litigation (MDL).
In light of the more detailed picture that emerged, Ken and Beth Melton returned their original settlement and pursued GM for fraud to hold the automaker accountable and improve safety for all consumers. This case was settled in April.” See
and watch http://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/parents-gm-crash-victim-fund-vehicle-safety-watchlist-n421826
Hope & Thanks For Safety and Justice Thanks to the Melton family and The Safety Institute for continuing the efforts to achieve Safety and Justice for all crash victims.
GM Feinberg Ignition Switch Compensation Program Denies 91% of Claims
GM Feinberg Ignition Switch Compensation Program Denies 91% of Claims
August, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
As of August 21, 2015, the Feinberg GM Ignition Compensation Claims Resolution Facility reported that it denied 91% of the 4,343 claims received.
For 473 fatality claims, Feinberg deemed 124 “eligible” and 349 (74%) “ineligible”.
For 279 Category One (Quadriplegia, Paraplegia, Double Amputations, Permanent Brain Damage, or Pervasive Burns) claims, Feinberg deemed 17 “eligible” and 262 (94%) “ineligible”.
For 3,591 Category Two (Physical injuries requiring hospitalization , or outpatient medical treatment, within 48 hours of the accident) claims, Feinberg deemed 258 “eligible” and 3,333 (93%) “ineligible”.
For the Total Claims 4,343 counted by Feinberg, 399 were deemed “eligible” and 3,944 (91%) “ineligible”.
See http://www.gmignitioncompensation.com/ and http://www.gmignitioncompensation.com/docs/Program_Statistics_8162015.pdf
As I wrote in my December 2014 Report delays, denials, obfuscations, and minimization by corporations and governmental agencies endanger us all – past, present, and future crash victims. See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/MonthlyReportforDecember2014.pdf
As I also wrote in June 2014, the amount of the compensation for victims planned was less than the $9.1 million value called for in the U.S. DOT Policy Guidance for each statistical life. Seehttps://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-feinberg-comp.php
If the GM Feinberg plan paid out $9 million to each of the 124 fatalities that Feinberg deemed eligible the total would exceed $1 Billion.
A series of recent reports noted the final statistics of the GM Feinberg program. See:
http://fortune.com/2015/08/24/feinberg-gm-faulty-ignition-switch/http://www.autonews.com/article/20150824/OEM/150829957/gm-ignition-switch-defects-tied-to-124-deaths-275-injuries-feinberghttp://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2015/08/gm-fund-denies-91-percent-of-ignition-recall-claims/
In July of this year Bloomberg reported on cases were not included under the GM Feinberg plan. See
And today we learn of a judicial ruling overturning a conviction of involuntary manslaughter for a driver involved in a fatal GM ignition switch crash in September 2010 that killed 16 year old Robert Chambers. See attached press announcement.
There are many stories of tragedies past, present, and future that need to be discovered and told so that fewer tragedies occur in the future.
Lou
GM/Feinberg Minimization Plan Saved GM Money At The Expense of Public Safety
GM/Feinberg Minimization Plan Saved GM Money At The Expense of Public Safety
August, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
The Detroit News reports:
“Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, said the “burden of proof on the individual consumer was always too high,” and that some may not have pursued claims because they didn’t have supporting documents.
“The entire program was designed to get help get Congress and the Justice Department off GM’s back,” Ditlow said. “The one thing is clear that we will never know how many people were killed or injured because it goes back so far.”
The ignition defect caused the engines in some vehicles to stop running, disabling power steering and air bags. Because accident investigators, for a decade, didn’t know of the flaw and may have attributed wrecks to other factors, it’s impossible to say how many accidents, deaths and injuries were truly the result of the bad part.
Texas lawyer Robert Hilliard, one of the lead lawyers suing GM over ignition defects, said Monday he has a mixed review of the compensation program, noting that the amount of some compensation awards was tied to hospitalization — a provision he called “clunky and unfair.”
He said some injuries were back- and neck-related “as you are slammed into the steering wheel and no air bag deploys.”
“Many of my clients were fortunate enough not to suffer severe bleeding or other open-wound type injuries, but ended up having surgery months later because of neck/back injuries. As they were sent home from the emergency room and not admitted — Feinberg does not allow for consideration of the surgeries. This led to a gross unfairness for many and a very small offer,” Hilliard said.” See
As I warned, past and future GM crash victims will suffer with less safety and less compensation than justice would require.
“Efforts to minimize monetary costs continue to deny and delay safety and justice to people.” See
https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/MonthlyReportforDecember2014.pdf
Lou
Nader on Trade And Our Safety
August, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Nader’s recent column tells us how our safety progress can be stymied by corporate trade lawyers: “Whole industries are taken from the U.S. and lost to dictatorial countries with poorly paid workers that daily violate human rights. Still, the “free-traders” don’t budge.
Of course the ultimate, latter stage dependency created by corporate globalization is when our own health, safety, labor and legal/democratic standards are pulled down by the combination of fleeing U.S. corporate giants in cahoots with fascist regimes overseas.
“To be first or best with labor rights, environmental or safety standards for our people is to be accused of imposing “non-tariff trade barriers” against imports from countries that treat badly their consumers, workers and environment. So, for example, our being first with an auto safety standard, a food labeling requirement or a ban on a toxic chemical here lets exporting countries sue the U.S. in secret tribunals in Geneva, Switzerland whose decisions by corporate lawyers (temporarily sitting as trade judges) are final.”
See https://nader.org/2015/08/21/globalization-formula-for-a-weakening-u-s-economy/
What we don’t know can kill us.
Lou
NHTSA Protects Takata Profits Over Safety
NHTSA Protects Takata Profits Over Safety
August, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members: Reuters reports:
“Takata Corp (7312.T), which is recalling 34 million defective air bag inflators, has proposed a plan to address concerns about the safety of the replacement parts it is providing to consumers – but the details are not available to the public.
A proposed Takata testing plan, which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration posted to its website on Tuesday, totals 37 pages. But the auto safety watchdog agency agreed to make 35 pages blank, after the Japanese manufacturer requested confidentiality over contents that include proprietary information.
“It is not public information because it is confidential business information,” said NHTSA spokesman Gordon Trowbridge.
Takata’s testing plans attempt to deal with two central questions for regulators, lawmakers and safety advocates: whether the air bag inflators now being used to replace defective parts are safe — and for how long.
The recall, which U.S. officials have described as the largest in U.S. history, involves millions of vehicles made by 11 automakers and equipped with Takata air bag inflators that can explode with too much force, spraying shrapnel into passenger compartments. The devices have been linked to at least eight deaths and more than 100 injuries. See:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/11/us-autos-takata-airbags-idUSKCN0QG2C720150811
Hmnnn 35 out of 37 pages blanked out by NHTSA.
Same old NHTSA policies of protecting profits rather than people. How would publication of the information in those 35 pages not advance safety?
Who will watch NHTSA?
Lou
Before Deadly Labor Day, The National Safety Council Warns on Rising Crash Deaths
Before Deadly Labor Day, The National Safety Council Warns on Rising Crash Deaths
August, 2015
U.S. on pace for deadliest driving year since 2007, says National Safety Council
Traffic deaths and serious injuries substantially higher in first six months of 2015
Itasca, IL – The National Safety Council estimates traffic deaths are 14 percent higher through the first six months of 2015 than they were during the same period in 2014, and serious injuries are 30 percent higher[i]. From January to June, nearly 19,000 people died in traffic crashes across the U.S., and more than 2.2 million were seriously injured[ii], putting the country on pace for its deadliest driving year since 2007. See
http://www.nsc.org/NSCNewsReleases/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=64
