The current controversy over GM's and the NHTSA's apparent lack of concern for human life and safety makes it clear that the current wimpy system of protecting consumers is not working. New criminal and civil sanctions need to be enacted. Treble damages should be allowed against the manufacturers. Perhaps every company selling cars in the U.S. should have a federally appointed and paid "Inspector General" on its staff. This officer would review all safety-related communications and reports from within the company, and would have broad investigatory power to dig deeper if necessary. The officer would also have power to stop sales of defective vehicles pending a federal court ruling on a temporary injunction. Of course, this officer must NOT be a person with a prior significant connection to the company they are monitoring. They must not be a auto manufacturer crony. We have seen too many supposedly regulatory agencies protecting the industry and not the consumer.
Some of you may recall the Ford Pinto scandal decades ago. This new scandal suggests that nothing was learned from the Ford Pinto deaths A state criminal prosecution failed. It's time to get tough in the interest of saving auto consumer lives.
I don't argue at all against your point, but spare me the Pinto as an example. The Pinto, with the four young ladies inside, was stopped; the car which hit it was travelling at about 80. What was never publicized in the effort to hurt FoMoCo was the fact that many other brands of small cars suffered the same fate when struck in the rear with a large disparity in speed.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, in 1952 my father's 1949 Mercury suffered a similar fate. The disparity was some 55 mph.
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