Parts From Hell
The automobile industry takes massive risks with workers' and consumers' lives every day.
The US automobile industry has issued more than one hundred million recalls over the last two years at considerable cost to automakers. But these costs are nothing compared to the deaths and injuries caused by faulty ignition switches, defective air bags that explode shrapnel into drivers’ necks and chests, secondary hood latches that stick to the open position, fuel leaks, water seepage into electronic controls, and power steering failures.
After Ralph Nader exposed the automobile industry’s total lack of concern for safety in Unsafe at Any Speed more than fifty years ago federal regulations were put in place. But enforcement remains problematic. Recent lawsuits against General Motors and Japanese component giant Takata show how the desire for profit continues to overshadow safety and consumer rights.
“The Switch From Hell”
As early as 2001, GM engineers discovered that the ignition switch it used in its compacts could easily slip out of place and stall a car. If the switch was joggled to its accessory position by either a heavy key chain or a person bumping against it, the car could lose power. Heedless of this dangerous possibility, General Motors kept installing them in their Cobalts and Saturn Ions, and even added them to their Chevrolet HHR, Pontiac Solstice, and Pontiac Pursuit. Evidence now indicates that from the beginning, the switch met neither internal GM standards nor the federal standard. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) requires auto companies to notify it within five working days if a product flaw is detected, yet GM remained silent, and between 2003 and 2007 installed the defective switch on 2.6 million cars.
Sorry, but this article is available to active subscribers only. Please log in or become a subscriber.