Posted on 11/10/2014 11:00:34 AM PST by jazusamo
The evidence continues to mount that General Motors has been less than transparent, if not outright culpable, regarding its ignition switch recall fiasco. As the death toll mounts (from the original 13 casualties reported by GM to the just revised 32 deaths) for victims involved in crashes of GM vehicles with defective ignition switches, new evidence has emerged that GM actually ordered replacement parts for the defective switches a full two months before they even reported a problem.
A Wall Street Journal article published on Sunday unveiled the damning evidence that GM placed an order for half a million replacement parts for defective ignition switches in mid-December of 2013. GM's timeline of events points to February of 2014 as the time when they decided on recalling the vehicles. Mary Barra has stated that she was not aware of the issue until around that time, when GM notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and issued a recall. The additional two months that motorists' lives were put at risk was commented on in the WSJ piece as follows:
General Motors Co. ordered a half-million replacement ignition switches to fix Chevrolet Cobalts and other small cars almost two months before it alerted federal safety regulators to the problem, according to emails viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The parts order, not publicly disclosed by GM, and its timing are sure to give fodder to lawyers suing GM and looking to poke holes in a timetable the auto maker gave for its recall of 2.5 million vehicles. The recall concerns a switch issue that is now linked to 30 deaths and has led to heavy criticism of the auto giant's culture and the launch of a Justice Department investigation.
The email exchanges took place in mid-December 2013 between a GM contract worker and the auto maker's ignition-switch supplier, Delphi Automotive PLC. The emails indicate GM placed a Dec. 18 "urgent" order for 500,000 replacement switches one day after a meeting of senior executives. GM and an outside report it commissioned have said the executives discussed the Cobalt at the Dec. 17 meeting but didn't decide on a recall.
The WSJ also notes that GM's much-hyped internal investigation by cronies headed by attorney Anton Valukas failed to mention the very important information that the company had ordered parts in December for a problem that they said they weren't sure about until two months later. The credibility of GM CEO Mary Barra comes into question as well, considering that the parts order came "one day after a meeting of senior executives."
I have long suspected that Ms. Barra was aware of the deadly defect in GM vehicles prior to when she said she was; or at the least should have been. Ms. Barra was head of GM product development and the main individual in charge of quality control during the time that the company was being sued over deaths from accidents involving defective ignition switches. In fact, as I reported on in March of this year , high level meetings were held at GM in July of 2011 to address the issues; meetings Ms. Barra should have been aware of.
The fallout and tragedies resulting from GM's mishaps continue a full nine months after the company recalled its defective models. Reports recently surfaced revealing that GM has repaired only about half of the recalled vehicles. I have been contacted by owners of recalled vehicles who tell of nightmare stories of runarounds as they waited for GM to supply parts to dealerships. Another death has resulted from GM's failure to get the repairs done as noted by one report which stated:
One of the unrepaired vehicles was a red 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt that crashed in Yonkers the night of Oct. 9, killing its 25-year-old driver, Brittany Alfarone. Her mother, Dierdre Betancourt, said she had tried to fix the car twice, but two dealers turned her away.
GM has claimed billions of dollars in expenses for repairs that it has not even completed. While owners of defective GM vehicles frustratingly wait for parts for their vehicles while they continue to drive cars with deadly defects, GM tries to capitalize on the tragedy by blaming poor earnings results on recall expenses while bragging about the recalls driving showroom traffic.
GM continues to look more and more guilty regarding a cover-up of known safety issues. The fact that Treasury sold its shares of GM in December of 2013 at a time when a devastating recall scandal was brewing must also come into question. Considering the involvement of the Obama Administration in GM, did politics contribute to the delay in reporting the deadly ignition switch defect?
There are many questions that should not be allowed to go unanswered regarding the GM recall scandal that resulted in at least 32 people losing their lives. Why did GM wait two months after ordering replacement parts to notify the public of the deadly safety defect? Did GM want to wait until after its earnings announcement date of February 6? Did Mary Barra know of the issues prior to the date she said was notified? If not, why wouldn't she have been aware, considering her high-level status and the importance of a safety defect that had already resulted in lawsuits?
Kudos to the Wall Street Journal for exposing the seeming corruption at GM. The NY Times has done some great investigative work on the GM recall scandal, as well. It is now time for President Obama's Justice Department to get tough with GM and get some answers. People have died and criminal charges should be brought against those whose greed contributed to the deaths. The crony relationship of our government with GM should not prevent justice for the 32 individuals who died as a result of a greedy corporation that put profits ahead of safety.
Mark Modica is an NLPC Associate Fellow.
I agree with that part. I just don't agree with shifting it to neutral. If you're going to move the shift lever, move it in a direction that going to help.
Because most people are operators NOT drivers. A drivers asses the situation and takes action to resolves it. An operator will more than likely panic.
AFAIAC there is NO drivers education. People >might< recall how far to stop from a hydrant or how to use turn signals but the don’t have a clue as what to do in a situation like a suddenly flat tire, oversteer skid, or failed brake line.
Heck I’ve driven lots of vehicles without brakes, used old tires instead of seats, driven vesicles that have burst into flames - oh those fine french machines - and recently had a major failure of the steering on my ‘98 Durango.
A chain garage was going to do an alignment but tried to sell me on a complete steering rebuild. I knew it was fine so canceled the job and went to get the truck. The manager did apologize and told me they did try to center the steering wheel but found the intermediate shaft was keyed and could only bolt on one way.
A couple of days later I was leaving work at 6AM, heard a ping under the steering column and suddenly there was NO connection between the steering wheel and the front wheels. It just spun freely.
Slowed and got stopped, luckily where there was little traffic. Turns out the garage had removed a bolt in the upper intermediate shaft and didn’t torque it down figuring I was going to OK the job and they’d have to take it our again.
Couldn’t find the bolt in the dark, wet and cold but I managed to bend a steel fork from work, jam it in the shaft and get home.
When I grew up anybody would have done the same thing. TOday few if any know how to change a tire.
I did not see it as a situation which would require stopping all that quickly.
I would consider leaving a manual tranny in gear if I needed to slow down really quickly, but coasting in drive with no power is very bad for automatic transmissions. I'd rather expend some additional energy from my leg muscles in order to decrease my chances of damaging an automatic transmission.
That's the best explanation I've seen yet. But it invites the question: Why should someone's inability to drive and their lack of understanding of their vehicle be blamed on GM? (Apart from a liability for replacing the defective parts, that is).
By the way, RE: Your experiences with vehicles - it sounds like we may have grown up around the same time-frame and possibly in the same neighborhood.
;-)
That’s all very well and good, if you’re cruising along on a smooth straight level road with no appreciable traffic.
But what if you’re trying to pull out into traffic; cross a busy intersection; negotiating a tight switchback on a mountain road.. ect., etc., etc. and all of a sudden, when you need it the most, you lose power, steering and brakes.
I have one of the offending vehicles.
The switch can go to off position shutting down everything.
Its the weight of the keychain. Too heavy keychain can pull down and put the switch in the off position... you loose everything... steering, power brakes.
They recommend people use only the key by itself with no weighty key ring until they can get it fixed.
It is caused by heavy keychain.
Stick your key in and turn it on. If you pull down on your chain, the switch will turn. They recommend using the key only, without any other keys attached.
If trying to pull out in traffic, aim for right edge of pavement and coast to a stop.
If crossing a busy intersection pop car in to neutral and coast, steering carefully for right edge of pavement. Coast as far as the car will take you, and put on the hazard flashers.
Tight switchback on mountain road - You’ll need to adjust your control inputs quickly. You will need a bit more braking pressure in order to slow for the switchback, and a bit more steering input to keep the car tracking through the turn. Hold your line, then coast to the edge of pavement as far past the exit of the turn as possible.
I have actually had vehicles cut out on me in each of the situations you named at least once (the mountain-road-switchback-turn scenario several times a day for about a month, until I was finally able to diagnose a fuel pickup problem in that damned Fiat).
I don’t know what else to tell you. Perhaps you should actually PRACTICE some emergency maneuvers once in a while.
Additional qualifications for reacting quickly to dangerous/ emergency situations:
I once had an old Triumph motorcycle with Lucas electrics.
I used to ride it at night fairly often.
I survived.
You completely lose steering? I have not previously heard anyone say that the defect results in complete loss of steering I have heard and read that the power-assist shuts down.
If the steering wheel actually locks and cannot be turned, then that would present a bit of a problem.
Is that really the case?
It shouldn’t be blamed on GM. They are responsible to replace a defective part and that is all.
FWIW on many of my vehicles the ignition switch has gone bad because A) Chrysler switches are all crappy to begin with and B) mrs p6 and the kids when they were with us insisted on hagning tons of crap on their key chains.
Of course the best option was to replace the switch. Heck back in the day you could get universal ignitions switches at drug stores!
But my favorite fix was to basically bypass the switch and install a push button start.
A series of toggle switches provided simple security against theft.
Grew up in the 50’s/60’s in Crafton just outside of Pittsburgh.
Still live here but we moved to a really nice apartment with integral garage so I don’t have to deal with mowing the lawn, house upkeep. Kinda miss the lawn but not climbing 40 feet in the air for painting/roofing and such.
> (the mountain-road-switchback-turn scenario several times a day for about a month, until I was finally able to diagnose a fuel pickup problem in that damned Fiat).<
HAHAHAHAHA! Just caught this! BEEN THERE DONE THAT! Fiat X1/9. Learned to keep a coffee can of parts cleaner with me at all times. Could rip the dang carb apart and clean it by the side of the road in less than 5 minutes.
Also had a...ummm...fleet of R5 LeCars, and R16 and an AMC Medallion wagon - R21 Renault. The ignition would cut on the R5’s but of course they were not power steering and stick shift. R16 and R21 caught fire, both several times. The R21 under dash burst into flames once while I was in the Fort Pitt Tunnels.
Reached into the dash, pulled out the flaming wires and handed them to my passenger to hold till we got through the tunnel.
Good times, good times!
Yeah. Italian and French ‘economy cars’ had a lot in common.
My Fiat 128’s standard operating procedure for blowing a fuse was to have it burst in to momentary flame and then give off a loud ‘POP’. The fuse box was so blackened with soot it was hard to tell which fuse did what - and I’m not even sure it mattered to the CAR what fuse did what.
“I’m still having a hard time understanding how a defective ignition switch can cause someone to crash their car.”
The reason is one loses all of their power assist from the engine when the engine shuts off. Brakes and steering are immediately made very difficult. If the driver never knew anything different, they crashed.
There is a reason Pontiac ceased production and it has to do with ignitions and the PCM (engine/transmission computer). They failed randomly and with age too. I loved my GP GT but after several $thousands trying to fix the electrical system where even factory trained techs did not have the answers I had to sell and buy a Camry. (great car, BTW, and more powerful with the V6)
I would not doubt that there is a symbiosis with the switch failing and a PCM problem in the Chevy’s. If that is the case, then say goodbye to GM.
Good one BUMP!
I expect an executive order banning photoshop any time now.
Government Motors.
FWIW....I’ve been under the impression that the steering wheel locking mechanism which is part of the ignition switch assembly might have been involved, as well; meaning that at some point the steering wheel could lock up and it would be impossible to steer the car. At 50 mph while approaching a curve......... Think about it.
I honestly don’t know if any cases have been from the switch going to the lock position, I was under the impression it’s because it goes to the off position.
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