Law and Rights
We have to give the folks at ConsumerAffairs.com credit for creativity --- and accuracy too.
They just released their list of "Top Ten Automotive Outrages of 2007" and they hit the nail on the head.
Ford scores big with 3 of the "top ten" spots, for their flaming Fords (almost 11 million vehicles recalled since 2005), the Ford truck spitting spark plugs (an expensive non-warranty $3,000 repair) and the Focus ignition fiasco (a model with the worst recall record of anything on wheels since 1980). Those were so well known that they could be expected and have been long time big safety issues for the public.
Airbags that won't go boom when they should are the #1 issue. They reported on numerous accidents that should have caused air bags to deploy but didn't. While manufacturers say that airbags aren't supposed to deploy in all accidents (that's their excuse) we've seen some accidents that were so severe that common sense dictates the air bag should have gone off but it didn't. Even the experts are baffled and tend to just trust the science behind the system more than their instinct on this one. The odds are that the airbag issue will continue to be debated.
Then there's GM's truck brakes (nearly 1.4 million recalled), but worse still is the GM Onstar abandonment (built on a now-outmoded and abandoned technology, leaving hundreds of thousands of GM Onstar customers without any recourse at all).
While Jeeps that jump, the Prius unintended acceleration problem, and the BMW transmissions
are their own problem, the biggest issue we see? The federal safety department itself, Nhtsa.
Yes, folks, it's your tax dollars at work. Business as usual in Washington. Lobbyists in bed with the regulators. Lots of those slogans seem to fit the folks at Nhtsa nowadays and only a change in administration will change Nhtsa, an agency run by folks who seem to think that big money political donors matter more than peoples' safety.
These are the people who gave the okay for "geographic recalls" that allowed some defective vehicles to be driven around without their owners knowing of their defects, while requiring others to be recalled to fix the same defect, purely based on where you live.
They're the same folks who keep some defect safety investigation files secret, working hand in glove with big business. Yup, that's a great use of your tax dollars, folks...figure out the problem and then bury it away where no one can find it.
Although hounded by consumers and watchdogs, Nhtsa turned down a request to investigate the big Ford engines that dangerously spit out spark plugs, saying that "In the need to allocate and prioritize limited resources to best accomplish the agency's safety mission," they just couldn't spare the manpower and didn't think flying spark plugs was all that big a deal. (Federal Register, Vol. 60, No. 138).
That's because they weren't the ones who had to duck when the spark plugs went flying, no doubt.
The upper level management at Nhtsa gives direction and authority for the lower level safety investigators who do the real work. In short, for years the people at the top have been tieing the hands of the people at the bottom, hamstringing any serious effort to investigate some deadly
defects that pose serious risk and danger to the public.
It ought to be embarrassing. Instead, it's just business as usual on both ends of the phone line that runs between Washington and Detroit.
Well, if they won't help you, we will. If you've got a lemon, we'll help you get rid of it. Call (1-888-331-6422 Toll Free) or email us. Fighting back is what we do. It's what we've done since 1978. We're not going to stop now.
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- Federal Safety Experts Investigating Ford Mustang
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- Secret Early Warning Data Now Public
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- How Recalls Happen
The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration is the federal agency responsible for investigating unsafe motor vehicles in the US. Often working quietly to investigate and analyze vehicle safety issues, their dedication to protecting the public often...
Law and Rights
Top Auto Industry Screw Ups
We have to give the folks at ConsumerAffairs.com credit for creativity --- and accuracy too.
They just released their list of "Top Ten Automotive Outrages of 2007" and they hit the nail on the head.
Ford scores big with 3 of the "top ten" spots, for their flaming Fords (almost 11 million vehicles recalled since 2005), the Ford truck spitting spark plugs (an expensive non-warranty $3,000 repair) and the Focus ignition fiasco (a model with the worst recall record of anything on wheels since 1980). Those were so well known that they could be expected and have been long time big safety issues for the public.
Airbags that won't go boom when they should are the #1 issue. They reported on numerous accidents that should have caused air bags to deploy but didn't. While manufacturers say that airbags aren't supposed to deploy in all accidents (that's their excuse) we've seen some accidents that were so severe that common sense dictates the air bag should have gone off but it didn't. Even the experts are baffled and tend to just trust the science behind the system more than their instinct on this one. The odds are that the airbag issue will continue to be debated.
Then there's GM's truck brakes (nearly 1.4 million recalled), but worse still is the GM Onstar abandonment (built on a now-outmoded and abandoned technology, leaving hundreds of thousands of GM Onstar customers without any recourse at all).
While Jeeps that jump, the Prius unintended acceleration problem, and the BMW transmissions
are their own problem, the biggest issue we see? The federal safety department itself, Nhtsa.
Yes, folks, it's your tax dollars at work. Business as usual in Washington. Lobbyists in bed with the regulators. Lots of those slogans seem to fit the folks at Nhtsa nowadays and only a change in administration will change Nhtsa, an agency run by folks who seem to think that big money political donors matter more than peoples' safety.
These are the people who gave the okay for "geographic recalls" that allowed some defective vehicles to be driven around without their owners knowing of their defects, while requiring others to be recalled to fix the same defect, purely based on where you live.
They're the same folks who keep some defect safety investigation files secret, working hand in glove with big business. Yup, that's a great use of your tax dollars, folks...figure out the problem and then bury it away where no one can find it.
Although hounded by consumers and watchdogs, Nhtsa turned down a request to investigate the big Ford engines that dangerously spit out spark plugs, saying that "In the need to allocate and prioritize limited resources to best accomplish the agency's safety mission," they just couldn't spare the manpower and didn't think flying spark plugs was all that big a deal. (Federal Register, Vol. 60, No. 138).
That's because they weren't the ones who had to duck when the spark plugs went flying, no doubt.
The upper level management at Nhtsa gives direction and authority for the lower level safety investigators who do the real work. In short, for years the people at the top have been tieing the hands of the people at the bottom, hamstringing any serious effort to investigate some deadly
defects that pose serious risk and danger to the public.
It ought to be embarrassing. Instead, it's just business as usual on both ends of the phone line that runs between Washington and Detroit.
Well, if they won't help you, we will. If you've got a lemon, we'll help you get rid of it. Call (1-888-331-6422 Toll Free) or email us. Fighting back is what we do. It's what we've done since 1978. We're not going to stop now.
Burdge Law Office
www.NewCarLemonLaw.com
Helping Consumers Get Rid of Lemons Since 1978
Click here to learn more about your state Lemon Law.
www.NewCarLemonLaw.com
Helping Consumers Get Rid of Lemons Since 1978
Click here to learn more about your state Lemon Law.
Subscribe in a reader- Federal Safety Experts Investigating Ford Mustang
Pic by Michael Gil from FlickrSometimes complaints about a specific kind of defect in a vehicle cause us to issue an alert to our clients to watch out, and avoid, a developing defect problem. Today, it's the 2012 Ford Mustang. Turns out that federal...
- Federal Safety Investigators Hide Recall Again?
So what did federal safety investigators learn from the public spotlight's glare on their cozy relationship with Toyota? Apparently not much. On Jan. 22, 2010, CF MOTO, the US company that imports Chinese made motorcycles, reported to federal safety...
- Secret Early Warning Data Now Public
After years of secrecy that was endorsed by the current administration in Washington DC, followed by lawsuits and Freedom of Information Act requests that wouldn't go away, federal safety investigators finally opened up their secret Early Warning...
- Ford F150 Being Investigated
Federal safety investigators are checking out the '05 Ford F150 pickup truck because of consumer complaints of brake failure. The problem appears to be with the 5.4 liter V8 engine package for some reason, reports the National Highway Traffic Safety...
- How Recalls Happen
The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration is the federal agency responsible for investigating unsafe motor vehicles in the US. Often working quietly to investigate and analyze vehicle safety issues, their dedication to protecting the public often...