Engineer May Have Lied About Ignition Switches, Says Barra
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In the continuing saga on the ignition switch recall, General Motors CEO Mary Barra admitted yesterday in front of a congressional committee that a company engineer may have lied under oath about fixing the problem that existed with the ignition switches.
“The data that’s been put in front of me indicates that, but I’m waiting for the full investigation. I want to be fair,” Barra said, referring to engineer Ray DeGiorgio’s deposition a year ago in a Georgia lawsuit where he discussed his involvement with the ignition switch. According to the Detroit Free Press, DeGiorgio was asked if he ever “signed a work order or a change authorization” to approve a redesigned switch.
“I don’t recall ever authorizing such a change, but it would definitely have been picked up in our engineering change systems of such a work order,” said DeGiorgio. However, a document recently released by several members of the House showed DeGiorgio signed off on the new ignition switch eight years ago.
The part number of the ignition switch wasn’t changed when it was redesigned, which has been problematic for General Motors in recent weeks. Even though some have claimed that this is not an unusual procedure, Barra has said that failing to change the number of a redesigned part was “wrong” and “totally unacceptable.”
In response, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) said, “It is hard for me to imagine you would want him anywhere near engineering anything at General Motors under these circumstances. I know you want to be methodical. I know you want to get this right. But I think it sends exactly the wrong message that somebody who perjures repeatedly under oath [is still employed].”
Stay with GM Authority with continuing developments on the ignition switch recall.
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Poor guy. This was 10 years ago. He probably signed 1000’s of part changes. UNLESS this was some memorable change or he had some kind of freaky mind he would not remember it.
If an engineer signs off a bridge design, the bridge then fails and a problem is traced back to the original design, that engineer can be held criminally accountable. This is why engineers wear the ‘iron ring’ on their writing hand pinky finger. It is similar to the hippocratic oath.
Expecting someone to remember some minor thing they did 8 years ago is crazy. To say he lied or perjured himself on tv when he said he did not recall is wrong.
He even said go look for the ecr. He did not say he did not do it.
No doubt, if someone asks me something and I say “I don’t remember” then it turns out what they asked to be true, I never lied. But that’s the kind of thing that the law suit a year ago should have found. If he was part of an investigation a year ago specifically about his involvement he should have known.
I believe the paper that said he made the change recently came from the Delphi interviews last week.
But again we should not make assumptions until the investigation is completed.
62vetteefp – I believe you are being too generous here. I approved thousands of changes myself over a 15 year span. I can remember perhaps 10 of them now. However if were to be summoned to testify in court, you can be d*mn sure I would do my homework beforehand. This info is kept on hand for 10 years in GM.
So far there is no GM ECR released to us.
The doc that has been recently released is a Delphi doc. So perhaps there is no paper in GM. I have no idea how that could be. Maybe he just signed off at Delphi.
Again, I am waiting for all the info before I condemn anyone or any company.
Of course, no one thinks about the consequences of cutting taxes, or railing against government that is too big. People somehow fail to consider that there will be an accounting at some point. Well, deaths due to faulty cars, broken down infrastructure and tainted food, which can’t be monitored or inspected because the funding for the agencies responsible have been cut to the bone, is what results. You get what you pay for folks. Still, GM has done a terrible job handling the crisis, as this article shows….http://bit.ly/1ouHq1J
Sounds like Venezuela may just be the place for you.
Just to keep the perspective here. And GM has done as well as can be expected at this point. They just failed in the initial choice to repair them long ago. Odds are it never got past the middle managers.
https://autos.yahoo.com/news/remember-other-bad-recalls-putting-chevy-historical-context-190037788.html
This thing is so over blown.
Thank you for putting things in perspective and giving us yet another glimpse inside your mind, Scott. Would you care to humor us non-regulars/less intelligent folks and explain how 18 injuries is somehow far worse than 18 to 300+ deaths? Pretty please, I’m dying to understand this.
This is far from the worst cases of deaths and this is far from the worst deaths per million cars on the market of that era.
I am in no way absolving GM of this issue but lets also consider there are other vehicles and MFG that have has such issues and deaths and the media and fiend out rage by people like you went seen.
Also factor in that the information on some of the 13 deaths have been coming out. While these cases originated in a ignition failure something that seldom ends in death it was also contributed by the fact that in several case that excessive speed, alcohol and no use of a seat belt were prime factors in the resulting death. Generally even if the air bag did not deploy if a seat belt was used the odds of survival would have been very good.
Now I am not fully blaming the victims but often takes two to tango here.
http://www.clickondetroit.com/money/automotive/the-gm-recall-the-pain-of-grieving-relatives/25275198
Here is a one case that the kid was doing 87 MPH, drunk, no license and I am sure insurance getting airborne and hitting a tree. Yes the air bag did not go off but if you would see the car the tree was in the middle of the front seat. When you hit so hard your leg goes through the floor board a working air bag is not going to help you.
Another girl was going 60+ MPH in a 25 MPH Zone and it a tree. Same result a tree that even if the bags were working would not have saved her but if she had a belt on it may have.
Now I am sure there are cases where the driver did nothing wrong and GM is fully behind the death and should be held responsible. But in many of these cases I am finding as information is coming out there were things that may have changed this from just an accident to a death due to the drivers failure in more than one area.
Cars stall all the time and even in this case the wheels do not lock up and the car is still steerable. Even the brakes will hold enough vacuum to bring it to a stop.
While this is a bad deal and GM is to blame we all need to keep the perspective that this was not the most dangerous car ever made as there are many much worse cases that people have never made a big deal about or never got the attention. Also we need to factor in the details of each crash as just because the ignition clicked off what the driver did or failed to do like use a seat belt was the different between life and death.
I am of the line of thinking that I am for holding MFG responsible when they are wrong but I also feel the consumer when improperly using the item that the MFG made improperly should be held responsible too. If a belt is provided and not used that is on them. Same for DUI.
I am again not clearing GM of all here as they should be held responsible for much. But the people who did not take due care should also be held responsible. Finally we all need to keep perspective here as this is far from the worst case or recall in history of the industry. I blame the media for the hype but they have done the same to others in the past too.
This is a case where we all need to keep perspective here that the media and people like you lack. You have to take in all factors not just the ones you want to focus on. As this goes on the lawyers will only stir it up more like the park mandate some were after. But these guys are only after class action that they will receive most of the settlement for their own pockets and the owners may get a few oil change.
There is evil on both sides here and if we fail to keep perspective we all lose.
People like me, huh? Anyone ever tell you you are far gone? Or transparent as all hell? (She says, as a sad gaggle of “New” GM fanatics, shareholders, and PAID “fans” throw thumbs down her way.)
Scottie, you’re doin’ a heckuva job.
Sorry if I present both sides good and bad here and you are unwilling to accept it. Things are different in the real world like it or not.
I am not a new GM fan, I am a fan of GM and many other makes, I love cars.
I am not a GM share holder But I am a investor in many larger corporations that make this country tick. With out them we would be Afghanistan with more rain.
As for being paid for Thumbs I could only wish.
The problem I is that while some people want Companies held responsible for their actions and some want people held responsible for their actions we need both. Too often they present one side or the other and for the reality it take an honest approach of both.
The reality is most people are good but many and a growing number have a poor moral compass anymore. They are only into things if there is something for them. It is a basic flaw of human nature.
It starts at the bottom with the average folks who generally are good but there are some who will take advantage of anything to benefit them. Same goes for companies most are good and even in large companies most people are good but it only take a couple to have bad results. Companies are just large groups of people and some with flaws.
I will give you the benefit that you mean well but the truth is you only want to accept what you want and not all there is.
To fix the issues that plague our society is to start with personal responsibility. When I say this I mean everyone. If you fix this on the basic level it will change the world. But the truth is you may change some but not all.
I will stand buy what I stated that GM should not be excused but I also do not think all the claims we will hear about should be rewarded for not taking their own personal responsibility. Rewarding bad behavior on the corporate level and personal level is what got us in this mess to start with.
If someone pulled out in front of a semi and got hit and killed when the ignition failed and were belted in and not DUI then GM should pay.
Now if it is someone Drunk, no license, 90 MPH getting airborne, with no seat belt and going off the road hitting a tree that is embedded well past the shifter then you get nothing. Working Air bag, new ignition or not this person would have died of their own stupidity and no one should be rewarded for that.
I looked at that link. GM has done all 4.
Gather all internal information about the problem-They hired an outside/respected Lawyer too find all info.
Get out front by revealing known facts-They have revealed all known facts-Look at all the timelines out there
Initiate a crisis response, and-Mary made this priority #1 at GM and senior leaders head the response team.
Measure perceptions to guide crisis management efforts-That is being done.
What else could a rational person and non lawyer ask for?