Bloomberg News
November 17, 2014
[…] The quick, secret deals, a cornerstone of product liability litigation across industries, help explain why years after the first recalls so much remains unknown about defects linked to four U.S. deaths. The few cases filed have generally been resolved before victims’ lawyers acquired evidence. […]
New York Times
By BILL VLASIC
NOV. 13, 2014
[…] Asked about the dozens of people who were killed and injured because of a faulty ignition switch that he was responsible for, Mr. DeGiorgio, 61, broke down and cried. […] Over the next several months, he expressed his frustration with the weak switch in several emails to G.M. colleagues and Delphi engineers, even calling it the “switch from hell.” […]
By Reuters 11/13/14
[…] Separately, Takata disputed a recent New York Times report that it had failed to tell federal regulators that it had found signs of air bag defects in secret tests in 2004 in Michigan.
[…] All five deaths have been in Honda cars. The Japanese carmaker, Takata’s biggest customer, widened its recall for the defective air bags by another 170,000 vehicles globally, taking the total to nearly 10 million. […]
Oct 30, 2014
More than half the nation, 27 states, have now announced they are suspending further installation of a controversial guardrail system used on roads around the country following what critics said was a cover-up of a dangerous change in the guardrail’s design made nearly a decade ago. […] The ET-Plus System was the subject of an ABC News “20/20” investigation in September that looked into allegations from crash victims that the modified guardrail can malfunction when struck from the front by their vehicles’. […]
New York Times
OCT. 30, 2014
[…] More than 14 million cars have been recalled globally because of the faulty Takata airbags, including 11 million in the United States. At least three deaths and more than 30 injuries have been attributed to the defect, which can cause airbags to rupture, sending metal shards flying into passengers. […]
Chrysler Recalls More Than 900K Vehicles
AP NEWS
October 16, 2014
Nearly 907,000 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep SUVs and cars are being recalled for alternators that can fail and heated power mirror wiring that can short and cause minor fires.
The recalls, posted Thursday by U.S. safety regulators, push the total number of recalls so far this year to over 500, totaling more than 51 million vehicles. That’s a full-year record on both counts, due mainly to massive General Motors recalls of more than 30 million vehicles. […]
New York Times October 12, 2014
[…]
Federal highway officials had long insisted that guardrails throughout the state were safe. But some guardrail heads had apparently malfunctioned, in essence turning the rails into spears when cars hit them and injuring people instead of cushioning the blow, Missouri officials said. […]
Because of its safety concerns, Missouri banned further installation of the rail heads on Sept. 24. It joined Nevada, which prohibited further purchases in January, and was followed six days later by Massachusetts. Lawsuits say the guardrails were to blame for five deaths, and many more injuries, in at least 14 accidents nationwide.[…]
Deaths linked to GM ignition-switch defect rise to 27
Reuters October 13, 2014
[…]
Since it began accepting claims Aug. 1, the program has received a total of 1,371 claims for deaths and injuries, according to the report by the office of Kenneth Feinberg, who GM has tapped to run the program. The report listed all of the claims received and approved as of Friday.GM has faced criticism this year for waiting 11 years to begin recalling millions of cars with ignition-switch problems that were linked to fatalities. […]
