Was Your Accident Caused by a General Motors Recall?

23 Jun Was Your Accident Caused by a General Motors Recall?

Let’s find out…

While there was a spotlight on the current CEO of General Motors simply because of her status as the first female in that position, she is now receiving attention because of a long-overdue recall that involves millions of GM cars. She, along with the acting administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, are scheduled to appear before a House and Senate subcommittee to discuss the recall.

Details of the Recall

This particular recall by General Motor involves a flaw in the ignition switch which causes it to revert to the “off” position while the vehicle is in motion. This action would cause drivers to lose control of the steering mechanism and prevent the airbags from activating. Presently, this defect has caused at least thirteen deaths. Those who are experiencing car defects and issues with a newly purchased vehicle may seek compensation with the help of a lemon law professional.

This issue has received a great deal of attention simply because GM had known about the problem since 2004 when it received a customer complaint that led to a GM engineer examining the part for a possible defect. Two years after that a technical service bulletin was distributed to dealers in which they recommended telling customers to remove heavy keys and other objects from their key rings. This distribution to the dealers also included key inserts for repairing the problem for those customers who complained, but they did not order a recall at that time. Finally, during the latter part of 2006 an engineer at GM signed off on an adjustment to the ignition switch that corrected the problem by requiring more torque for the ignition

The Role of Federal Regulators

The National Traffic Safety Administration investigates potential manufacturing defects that have the following components:

• Customer complaints (they receive about 50,000 a year).
• Early warning reporting (a report that manufacturers are required to send to regulatory agencies when there is a complaint that involves death or injury because of a default in a particular vehicle).
• Special investigations of a crash which involves NHTSA assigning an outside firm to the case.

The NHTSA assigned special investigators to look into three fatal crashed that involved Chevrolet Cobalts in 2005, 2006, and 2009. In each of these crashes the investigators discovered the airbags did not deploy and the ignition was in the “accessory” rather than the “on” position. The chief of NHTSA’s Defects Assessment Division order an investigation into the problem of the non-deployment of front airbags in the 2003-2006 Cobalt and Saturn Ion after 29 complaints, four fatal accidents (in case of DWI charges hire attorneys from here) , and fourteen reports of ignition switch issues in September 2007. In spite of these reports, they declined to open a formal investigation in both November 2007 and 2010 because it “failed to identify any actual trend.”

General Motors’ Role

Because of the bankruptcy agreement, GM may not be liable for injuries or deaths prior to June 10, 2009 unless an investigation proves it failed to disclose the defect at the time. They have admitted the problem with the ignition may have been the result in the 13 deaths, but they occurred before the bankruptcy date. It has also reported 23 fatal crashes under the EWR system since May, 2009. In such accident and injury cases, one could discharge their debts with the guidance of a ch. 7 bankruptcy attorney. There are several things to remember before filing for bankruptcy in Oklahoma area. People should assure that it will not affect their future compensations.

Lawmakers plan to investigate the possibility that GM breached the Transportation Recall Enhancement Accountability and Documentation Act in which automakers are required to file EWR reports, notify regulators of any recalls that occur outside of the United States within five days, and sets high penalties for violations of those regulations.

If you believe your car may be part of this recall, you can visit https://recalls.gm.com/ to check. It’s a good idea to do this now before you have a car accident, especially one that causes death or injuries. For more information about this recall or to speak to one of our personal injury lawyers, call our office (for free) at 1-877-659-1620.