Every day developments in the area of product safety occur. Whether it be recalls, the launch of defect investigations by NHTSA, or national or regional news about advancements in automotive safety technologies, news and information in this area is constantly changing.
To assist consumers and attorneys, some of the more notable developments are noted herein for easy reference. If you have any questions about any of these topics or desire more information do not hesitate to call us.
Rules Haven’t Kept Pace With Aging U.S. Fleet Source – Bloomberg April 30, 2015 – Hundreds of crashes involving defective cars are going unreported each year because under U.S. safety rules automakers aren’t required to report suspicious accidents for models more than 10 years old. That’s worrisome, safety advocates say, because the average age of…
Source: Car Connection May 4, 2015 – Back in March, Ford recalled more than 212,000 Ford Explorers from the 2011-2013 model years to replace faulty door latches that could spring open during a collision, increasing the risk of damage to occupants. Last month, perhaps in response to an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety…
Honda Motor Corp. yet again expanded its recall of vehicles with defective Takata airbags, bringing the total Honda vehicles recalled to more than six million to date. As the carmaker looks deeper into the manufacturing and tracking issues at the plant that produced the defective Takata airbag inflators, the recalls grow, leaving Honda owners wondering…
Source: New York Times March 19, 2015 – Honda Motor is expanding a national recall of vehicles with Takata-made airbags to include more than 104,000 cars, including one model that had not been included in previous recalls for the defect. Takata airbags can deploy violently and send metal fragments at passengers. On Thursday, the automaker said it…
Source: Detroit News March 22, 2015 – The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Sunday it is opening an investigation into whether Nissan Motor Co.’s recall of nearly 1 million vehicles for air bag problems was effective. The auto safety agency said it is reviewing Nissan’s recall in March 2014 of 989,701 2013-2014 Altima, Leaf,…
Source: CBS News March 30, 2015 – Attorney Kenneth Feinberg, who was hired by GM to compensate victims, updated the total Monday. It was up from 74 last week. An additional 141 injured people also are eligible for compensation. The fund received a total of 4,342 claims by the Jan. 31 deadline. Of those, 1,263…
Source: Automotive News March 7, 2015 – The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is fed up with Takata and is considering unprecedented steps to speed up replacement parts for potentially deadly air bags found in millions of cars. In a March 3 letter, NHTSA chief Mark Rosekind said to Senator Bill Nelson that safety regulators…
Source: Automotive News- March 30, 2015 – The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would be able to order automakers to cease the sale of vehicles with dangerous safety defects under the Obama administration’s multiyear surface transportation funding bill sent to congress today. Under “imminent hazard authority,” NHTSA would have broad power to ground vehicles “in…
Source: Reuters January 31, 2015 – The auto industry’s air bag troubles deepened on Saturday as U.S. federal safety regulators said three big automakers will recall about 2.1 million older vehicles to fix defects that could cause air bags to deploy when they are not supposed to. The vehicles involved in the recall announced by…
Source: Wall Street Journal January 13, 2015 – Car parts suppliers are stepping up quality control efforts and the traceability of their components in the wake of an unprecedented wave of auto-safety recalls and massive fines against manufacturers. Several are investing in new equipment to better automate defect-detection and assigning more employees to parts checks. Daicel Corp.,…