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Automotive News & Views Brand problems swept under the rug
1144 messages, Last post on Nov 26, 2009 at 10:35 AM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: gagrice (Nov 07, 2009 4:52 pm)  It was the driver`s stupidity and ignorance. Even if it was Chevy/Ford/Honda/Dodge -the same logic applies!! 
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Replying to: gagrice (Nov 07, 2009 2:03 pm) Nobody with a real injury would be dumb enough to join in something like this...but all the scammers will be first in line for that free oil change. If the attorneys make any money on this you can be sure that every other car manufacturer might as well line up for their turn. Cigarettes used to cost 25 cents a pack and now I hear that they are about $5. Mostly due to lawsuits. I can't wait to plunk down $200,000. for a Yaris.
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Replying to: iluvmysephia1 (Nov 07, 2009 6:23 pm) Just looked him up on his website: Who We Are Established in July 2004 by Sean Kane, Safety Research & Strategies, Inc., is staffed with research professionals who specialize in safety matters. Mr. Kane began his work in 1991 with the Center for Auto Safety, the advocacy organization established by Ralph Nader in Washington D.C. As a co-founder of Strategic Safety, and later, as president of Safety Research & Strategies, Mr. Kane has remained at the forefront of safety issues and trends, from Electronic Stability Control to aging tires. He continues to offer unique solutions to the problems of investigating and analyzing product defects and to federal agency investigations and rulemakings Mr. Kane’s work on behalf of clients and the public has prompted federal investigations, aided in the successful resolution of important litigation, and alerted the public of significant vehicle safety hazards. His investigations and analyses of defects have led to recalls of millions of vehicles and components that have inflicted serious and deadly injuries to consumers, ranging from heater core ruptures, engine fires, failed electronics, and tires. Mr. Kane was instrumental in revealing the Ford Explorer/Firestone tire debacle in the U.S. His research exposed Ford’s overseas recalls to the public in July 2000 and led to three campaigns to recall the tires. In 2006, subsequent research revealed that unused Firestone spares, never replaced in the 2000 and 2001 recalls, were being put into service, only to fail quickly causing more rollover deaths and serious injuries. As a result, Firestone launched an owner re-notification program in July 2006. Mr. Kane is the founder of the Vehicle Safety Information Resource Center, a company that provides researchers with the tools to locate and obtain vehicle safety data and documents from government sources, he is the editor of The Safety Record, a bi-monthly publication that covers the “inside baseball” of motor vehicle and product safety, and co-chairs the CDC-sponsored Massachusetts Prevent Injury Now! Network, a group that supports injury prevention efforts as the state level. Mr. Kane is a frequent source and commentator to the broadcast and print media and his work continues to serve as the foundation for successful identification and resolution of many vehicle and product safety matters. SRS research staff includes Tony Di Viesti Esq., BSME, Melanie MacDonald, Ann Boudreau, Lauri Stevenson MLS, Ellen Liberman, Felix Click MLIS, Marilyn Charest, Brad Pugh, Sharon Mitchell, and Ryan Gousie SRS also maintains contractors in Detroit, Europe, Australia, and Japan. Hmm, he started at the Center for Auto Safety and seems to have developed a rather large ego....Didn't know he was so "instrumental in revealing the Ford Explorer/Firestone tire debacle in the U.S." 
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Replying to: houdini1 (Nov 07, 2009 7:58 pm) Off topic, but the huge increase can be blamed on much higher taxes, with the aim of getting people to quit now that we know how dangerous cigs are. Try $9 a pack in NYC. People still smoke there though.
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Replying to: 210delray (Nov 07, 2009 8:12 pm) |
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...you may not want to drive again (hint: it's not just Toyotas that have "sudden unintended acceleration"). See this (note: very small font, and infamous white letters on black background). |
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The trendline of complaints for four manufacturers—Ford, GM, Chrysler, and Toyota, however, float above their peers with occasional spikes, leading one to conclude that either these manufacturers have a problem, or the most confused consumers gravitate to their vehicles. Oh, fine. Grasping for straws, the report surmised that the most confused drivers gravitate towards Toyota, Ford, GM and Chrysler products, because these SUA problems show up for these manufacturers more than the others. Or, and here's where there might be some hurting and pain going on, these carmakers really do have a problem in their designs systems somewhere that is causing these sudden acceleration problems. Ya think? I think that Toyota is the undisputed leader in these problems. |
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Replying to: deltheking (Nov 07, 2009 6:33 pm) I would shudder to think that an incorrect floor mat could cause 4 fatalities. I know I wouldn't had bothered to check whether the mats could or would bind the pedal. Just suppose for a moment that it was your wife and kids killed in that car due to those mats. Would you consider her stupid and ignorant for not checking the mats or being unable to stop the car?
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From the long article on SUA. I thought it was fair and balanced. A couple opinions struck me as valid. Attorney (and engineer) Don Slavik, who represents Ezal, is hoping that NHTSA will take a second look at the problems of the 2005 Camry – although he isn’t sanguine about the outcome. “It’s clear the NHTSA lacks the resources to fully investigate this. NHTSA does not have special staff with experience in electronic control systems – and their small staff is tasked with a wide range of responsibilities,” says Slavik of the Milwaukee firm, Habush, Habush & Rottier. “That’s where the tort system comes in to assist more fully in investigating this problem, which affects millions of vehicles.” Sean Kane, president of SRS agrees. “SUA presents unique and resource intensive investigation that can quickly overwhelm the NHTSA defects office. Further, the agency has a history of dismissing SUA unless there are mechanical or driver error issues, which only complicates matters.” I would say this gives more insight into the way Toyota has acted. They believed the NHTSA would give them another bye, and they announced as much. Then got jerked back by the agency and put further into the limelight. Dr. Antony Anderson, an electrical engineering consultant in the UK who has examined numerous SUA crashes, says that NHTSA’s definitive research report is neither definitive nor research. The agency based its report on nine underlying assumptions, but did not provide the basis for those assumptions. The agency defined sudden unintended acceleration as only instances where the vehicle lurches suddenly forward or in reverse from a standstill. This automatically discounted many other situations in which a vehicle’s throttle is wide open in direct contradiction to the driver’s demands, be it at full speed, a slow speed or in a cruise control mode. Further, he says, the systems that NHTSA examined in the late 1980s bear no resemblance to fully electronic throttle systems of today. “It’s a travesty,” Anderson said. “That report has no relevance whatsoever, but manufacturers have sheltered themselves behind it for years.” As far as class action lawsuits. This statement is far from true by my own experience. Nobody with a real injury would be dumb enough to join in something like this...but all the scammers will be first in line for that free oil change. The plastic pipes in an older mobile home that I own started splitting out causing damage. I got a plumber to replace the plastic with copper and reported it to my insurance. I was told that a class action suit a few years before against Shell Oil would cover the replacement costs. In my case it was $3500 I would have had to take out of my pocket as it was not covered in my homeowners policy. More than a oil change by far. I would shudder to think that an incorrect floor mat could cause 4 fatalities. I cannot help thinking about it every time I drive that stretch of freeway. My guess is those that defend Toyota the most adamantly, would scream the loudest if it was someone in their family. |
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Replying to: obyone (Nov 08, 2009 12:43 am) Sometimes corporations, hospitals and physicians actually need sued if only to keep their interest and respect focused on providing a safe and competent product instead of only the bottom line. BTW I'm an engineer not an attorney. The McDonalds coffee case is always brought up as an example of frivolous egregious law suits. The fact is that McDonalds was warned numerous times that their 170 degree coffee was dangerous, but it was hot based allegedly on a business decision that it would it would reduce refills, because until it cooled down enough to drink, in house customers wouldn't have time to ask for refills. The woman suffered very serious scald burns. http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm |
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Automotive News & Views Brand problems swept under the rug
