WASHINGTON, D.C. (SDJW)–U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) and U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois) have criticized as far less than deserved the $35 million fine leveled against General Motors for failing to disclose safety defects in the ignition and airbag interface in 2,190,934 vehicles on the roads of the United States.
The lack of disclosure came to light after GM began issuing recalls for models of the 2005-23010 Chevrolet Cobalt, 2007-2010 Pontiac G5; 2003-2007 Saturn Ion, 2006-2011 Chevrolet HHR, 2006-2010 Pontiac Solstice and 2007-2010 Saturn Sky vehicles, according to the Department of Transportation.
The $35 million penalty–less than $17.50 per car– was the maximum that could be assessed under legislation governing fines that can be handed out by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Blumenthal said the fine “may be the maximum allowable, but it is regrettably a pittance for GM and a powerful reminder of the need for legislative reform. The appropriate penalty would be many multiples of this number in lifht of the devastating injuries, death and damange caused by GM’s seriously defective cars. I will advocate reforms to increase these penalties so violations of moral and legal responsibilities will be met by appropriate sanctions–unfortunately legally impossible in this case. This penatly shows that the federal agency acted as forcefully as possible, but its hands were tied. The victims deserve stronger justice, and GM deserves harsher penalties.”
Said Schakowsky, who is the ranking Democrat on the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade: “While I believe $35 million is too small a fine, it is the maximum allowed by law. The consent decree requires GM to make signficant changs to its internal safety review process, to provide NHTSA with full access to its internal review, to make a targeted effort to encourage vehicle owners to get the ignition switches replaced, and to provide NHTSA with oversight of its recall effort.”
“Importantly, this settlement does not restrict in any way the rights of victims and thier families to continue to pursue legal action against GM for its failure.”
Schakowsky said the faulty ignition switches–which were not engineered to accommodate heavy key rings, and which under certain circumstances caused air bags not to deploy–“have been connected to at least 32 crashes and 13 deaths.”
At a press conference on Friday, May 16, to announce the settlement, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx stated: ““Safety is our top priority, and today’s announcement puts all manufacturers on notice that they will be held accountable if they fail to quickly report and address safety-related defects. While we will continue to aggressively monitor GM’s efforts in this case, we also urge Congress to support our GROW AMERICA Act, which would increase the penalties we could levy in cases like this from $35 million to $300 million, sending an even stronger message that delays will not be tolerated.”
At the same news conference NHTSA Acting Administrator David Friedman said, “No excuse, process, or organizational structure will be allowed to stand in the way of any company meeting their obligation to quickly find and fix safety issues in a vehicle. It’s critical to the safety of the driving public that manufacturers promptly report and remedy safety-related defects that have the potential to lead to deaths or injuries on our nation’s highways.”
*
Preceding compiled by San Diego Jewish World