General Motors has had to deal with a battery of issues relating to the safety of its vehicles, and it seems that the trend is not stopping anytime soon. General Motors had recently come to Washington to defend their company practices before Congress.
The newest issue with General Motors concerns the recall of SUVs for a third time; the problem with these vehicles is that the power windows can catch fire. The matter is rather serious and General Motors has told customers that they should park the vehicles outdoors until they are repaired in case they catch fire while not being attended to. Unfortunately, parts to replace the defective SUVs will not be available until October, so the automaker has ordered its dealers to no longer sell these vehicles until the matter is resolved. The recall comprises about 200,000 SUVs from the years 2006 and 2007. It was one of six recalls that General Motors made on June 30, covering approximately 7.6 million vehicles. The problems concerning the General Motors SUVs began in 2012 when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started to investigate consumer complaints of fires in the driver door switches. GM tried to address originally the issue through a service campaign, warning about how the SUVs can catch fire. It was not until August 2012 that GM recalled nearly 300,000 SUVs as a result of government pressure. At this juncture, there had already been 242 complaints that included 28 fires. As the NHTSA continued to investigate, GM expanded the recall nationally. General Motors fixed the defect last year by providing a protective coating around the window switch circuit boards, but that did not solve the issue as GM started to receive more complaints in April 2014. As a result of these complaints, General Motors decided that the best course to take would be to do a third recall and replace all of the switches.
The Danger of Delayed Recalls
General Motors has had to face a series of lawsuits in regard to their recall of vehicles because, in some instances, the problems that they did not fix in a timely fashion or did not inform the public about led to greater risks of injury. General Motors has created a victims’ fund for one type of recall (regarding ignition switch defects that led to vehicles stalling on the road), but has refused to include the victims of other vehicles. In particular, there have been lawsuits regarding the wrongful death of its vehicle owners. In order to prove a case of wrongful death, the party must establish that the other party behaved in a negligent manner and that this behavior contributed to the death of the victim. In general, the party that brings the claim on behalf of the deceased must be a close relative.
If you or a loved one has been the victim of a car accident in the state of Michigan, you should contact the Clark Law Office. We have a pristine reputation in the field of car accident litigation and can provide you with immediate assistance.
- Effective Pain Management After A Car Accident: A Comprehensive Legal Guide - December 6, 2024
- What Happens When You Reject an Insurance Settlement Offer? - September 18, 2024
- Understanding The Impact: What Happens If The Cerebellum Is Damaged? - September 9, 2024
