GMRecallSurvivors.com have erected a billboard to raise awareness about the government's failures to regulate auto safety and prevent deaths caused by GM ignition switches. 

This is not to take away from their heroic efforts which have successfully rallied support and remembrance of those who lost their lives because of GM's failures, rather to call attention to the failures of many others, including TOYOTA, JEEP, TESLA, OTHER MANUFACTURERS, the failure of NHTSA to respond, the failure of government to react to protect consumers. 

Big Corporations have taken over government, budgets have been slashed and government no longer fulfills its obligation to protect consumers. 

The bloody Takata Airbag deaths define part of the grisly toll: 

It's time to change all that!!

How curious is this?: U.S. probes 408,000 Jeep SUVs for rollaway incidents

NHTSA'S White Wash!

Toyota had received more than 37,900 complaints

 concerning the ETCS, which have been installed in 

Toyota-brand vehicles sold in the United States since 

1998.

+ 37,900 complaints ignored by Toyota

Automakers Are Companies and Don’t Care About You

Defining an industry that eschews safety...

NHTSA ignored 4,150 COMPLAINTS?

GM recall survivors group launches Detroit billboard

Melissa Burden, The Detroit News

September 2, 2016

A group associated with victims of General Motors Co.’s faulty ignition switches is paying for a billboard in Detroit that aims to remind employees and CEO Mary Barra of the company’s promise to improve its safety record.

The billboard with the message “Let’s make sure they never forget” goes up Monday and will be visible in September near the corner of Rosa Parks Boulevard and the W. Fisher Service Drive along I-75 in Detroit.

The billboard shows pictures of six young people who died in crashes, including Laura Christian’s birth daughter. Amber Marie Rose was 16 when she died in a 2005 accident in a Chevrolet Cobalt tied to the ignition switch defect. The billboard includes a Barra quote from a 2014 Congressional hearing: “I never want anyone associated with GM to forget what happened.”

Christian is the founder of GM Recall Survivors, which includes family and friends of those killed and injured in crashes tied to GM’s defective ignition switches.

“We’re trying to raise awareness, obviously, for auto safety and at the same time provoke GM to truly commit to safety,” Christian said Friday. “In the meantime, we want other folks to not forget that auto safety is a serious issue. This is an ongoing issue. And until we get new laws, we’re going to lose more people.”

GM Recall Survivors is planning a news conference at 11 a.m. Sept. 16 near GM’s headquarters in Detroit. Christian, a Maryland native, said she has invited Barra. Christian seeks Barra’s support of its efforts to create greater accountability for executives in cases of deadly recalls and banning sales of recalled used cars until they are fixed.

GM on Friday said it was aware of the billboard, but did not comment.

The automaker in early 2014 recalled 2.59 million older Chevrolet Cobalts, Saturn Ions and other cars for defective ignition switches that can inadvertently shut off the engine, disabling power steering and air bags.

The ignition switch defect ultimately was tied to 124 deaths and GM established a victims compensation fund for families of those who died and hundreds of people who were injured. Last September, GM agreed to pay a $900 million fine to the Department of Justice, and, it agreed to three years of oversight by a federal monitor as part of a deferred prosecution agreement. It also paid a then-record $35 million fine in 2014 to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for the delayed recall.

The billboard mentions May 6, 2017, in Washington, D.C., as a “Stand for Justice” event that the group is organizing to lobby legislators to enact laws to protect Americans from defective automobiles.

Christian said she hopes the billboard will get the public’s attention and to support law changes: “I hope it awakens some folks that this is something that can happen to them and to their family.”


http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/general-motors/2016/09/02/gm-recall-billboard/89779404/

Toyota, GM and now VW…An industry prone to mega crises?

By: Megan Lampinen October 5, 2015

In 2014, Toyota sold 10.24 million vehicles, beating VW’s 10.14 million and GM’s 9.92 million vehicles. In total, the three OEMs sold 30.3 million vehicles across 24 car and truck brands globally, including the heavy commercial vehicles sold by Toyota and VW. Although these three OEMs consistently make up the top three list of global OEMs by volume sales, it is Volkswagen which in H1 2015 appeared to have gained the lead, outselling Toyota by 20,000 units.

Since 2009, however, each of these three OEMs has also found itself embroiled in a major scandal involving wrongdoing, cover-ups and breaches of trust. Each scandal had worldwide implications, and looked capable of having disastrous long-term effects on the company concerned. Toyota was hit by the sudden unintended acceleration scandal in 2009; General Motors spent 2014 tackling the ignition switch fiasco; in 2015, the industry has been rocked by allegations that Volkswagen has fudged diesel emissions results.

Each case has been markedly different, not only in the alleged offences, but also in the way they have been handled by the authorities, the companies’ internal response, and the associated public reaction.

In this article, Automotive World looks at the infringements involved, the punishment meted out and the company response….

http://www.automotiveworld.com/analysis/toyota-gm-now-vw-industry-prone-mega-crises/

GM ignition toll reaches 100

'Grim milestone' shows need for carmakers, government to act promptly to correct flaws, congresswoman says

 

 

By The Associated Press
Posted May. 12, 2015

DETROIT – The death toll from faulty ignition switches in small cars made by General Motors has reached 100.

The families of the victims are being offered compensation by Attorney Kenneth Feinberg, who was hired by GM last year. In addition, GM has agreed to make offers to 184 people who were injured in crashes caused by the switches in older-model cars such as the Chevrolet Cobalt.

GM recalled 2.6 million of the cars last year, but acknowledged it knew about problems with the switches for more than a decade.

Through much of last year, the company had blamed the switches for 13 deaths but conceded the toll would rise. During a Congressional hearing in June, Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., said the death toll could rise to 100 based on lawsuits and media reports.

The "grim milestone" revives concerns about automakers quickly sharing information with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and for the agency to analyze data and promptly take action, DeGette said in a statement. "As we have seen with the problems with GM's ignition switches, these failures can compound and bring tragic consequences for far too many innocent people," she said.

The switches can slip out of the "on" position, causing the cars to stall, disabling some important safety features.

Feinberg has said each validated death claim would start at $1 million and rise depending on the circumstances of the crash. The company, he said, would pay claims regardless of whether the victims contributed to the cause of the crash.

Feinberg's compensation fund received 4,342 claims by the Jan. 31 deadline, and about 14 percent of those are still under review. A total of 1,759 have been deemed ineligible, and another 1,633 were deficient or turned in without documentation.

GM paid $200 million to settle claims filed with Feinberg as of March 31, according to its quarterly report. The company set aside $550 million to pay claims and says that number could rise to $600 million. Feinberg says there is no cap on the total amount of money he can pay out.

So far, Feinberg has made 193 compensation offers and 140 have been accepted. Five have been rejected, leaving 48 outstanding, according to Camille Biros, deputy administrator of the compensation program for Feinberg. She said their goal is to finish making all compensation offers by mid-summer.


http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20150512/NEWS/150519880/101017/BIZ