Two families whose daughters died while driving cars affected by defective ignition switches protested outside the Renaissance Center, the skyscraper in downtown Detroit that is home to General Motors.
A day before General Motors’ annual shareholder’s meeting, the families of Amber Rose and Natasha Weigel joined labor activists in holding signs taking GM to task for their “moral bankruptcy.”
“We need to make this as expensive as possible because apparently that’s the only thing GM pays attention to. The only thing GM seems to listen to is their bottom line,” said Laura Christian, whose 16-year-old daughter Amber was killed in a Maryland crash in 2005.
Ken Rimer, stepfather of Natasha Weigel, the 18-year-old killed in a 2006 accident in Wisconsin, added that “GM was shamed into making changes after engineers, lawyers and safety officials failed to respond to research showing the defect was deadly,” according to the Detroit Free Press. Weigel’s friend, 15-year-old Amy Rademaker, also perished in the accident.
Rimer said the state trooper’s accident report of the crash linked the ignition-switch issue to air bag non-deployment well before General Motors admitted there may be a connection, adding, “All of this information was hidden. We’re trying to keep the heat on.”
Added Christian, “”I think GM needs to be held criminally liable. No money in the world can make up for what they’ve done.”
Comments
Even the NHTSA couldn’t figure out if their was something wrong, then GM just decided to recall all those affected cars without the NHTSA even ordering. Chrysler made jeeps with fuel tanks behind the rear axles which the NHTSA later realised was deadly after it passed all the safety tests before, ordered Chrysler to recall, and they simply refused, even though a simple fix was to add a tow hitch, to me, that’s pretty deadly getting rear ended and both cars explode, I don’t think I’d ever ride a car again, but hey nobody made a big deal about it. Plus one of the girls whose parents are protesting was sitting in the back seat, in pretty sure in a head on collision, those sitting in the back seat will be protected by just the seat belt and the front seat.
Oh great now we have zealot labor activists involved.
If I recall Amber was one of the drivers under the influence, speeding and not belted per one report. I am trying to locate this story again to be sure.
I feel for the mother but if what I read was true then her daughter was also a contributor to her death.
Here is part of the crash report in the story.
“Amber had put herself at considerable risk on July 29, when her car hit a tree around 4 a.m. in Dentsville, Md. She was not wearing her seatbelt, was legally drunk and had reached 69 miles an hour in a 25 m.p.h. zone just before the crash that killed her, according to a crash report.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/03/business/in-general-motors-recalls-inaction-and-trail-of-fatal-crashes.html?_r=0
Odds are that if she was not drinking under age, Speeding, and had a belt on if the key went off she would have walked away or as most in control of themselves and the vehicle just pulled over to the side of the road.
I have also noted that many of the parents complaining are those who already settled with GM. I get the feeling that some may be just mad they settled for less than they could get now. I hate to say that but it is true with some folks.
This woman was not even in her daughters life for 15 years. It is a sad story but there are things that stick out in it too.
This is one of the cases where I see shared responsibility in the crash and death. I will say a pray for Amber but she her self at risk as much or more than GM.
I know some anti corporate types will not like this but this is all about personal responsibility. You want cooperation’s to be responsible you start holding people responsible and you will find more moral compasses will be in the right direction off the job and on the job.
Oh wow, I knew she was full of crap somehow.
I wasn’t familiar with the Natasha Wiegel crash but I just looked and there is more to it too.
“Natasha, of Albert Lea, Minn., and her friend, Amy, of Woodville in St. Croix County, were returning from a trip to Walmart in Hudson with their friend, Megan Ungar-Kerns, 17, behind the wheel on Oct. 24, 2006. They were cruising east on Highway N in St. Croix County shortly before 8 p.m., when the 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt suddenly lost all power and steering. It hit a raised driveway and went airborne for nearly 40 feet before slamming into a telephone pole and two trees. The airbags never deployed. None of the girls were wearing seatbelts.”
http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/pi/general-motors-recall-spurs-lawsuit-over-fatal-2006-wisconsin-accident-b99229846z1-251637011.html
Now there were three girls I the car and the two killed were in the passenger seat and the backseat with no belts.
There is a claim the steering locked but from my understanding and experimenting with the HHR ignition it will not lock with the key in the ignition. Even if you remove the key it has to go nearly 3/4 to a full turn to lock.
Note too in the story it states “Investigators noted the Chevy’s ignition switch was in “accessory” position rather than “run.” But how did that happen? And what did that mean?”
http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/pi/general-motors-recall-spurs-lawsuit-over-fatal-2006-wisconsin-accident-b99229846z1-251637011.html
Well if it was in accessory that mean the steering did not lock as it will not lock in this position. The key has to be in lock off to lock the wheel only after the nearly full turn.
I am not sure who is changing what part of the story here the Media, GM, the police or the Families.
I do note of all the families going public I have not see one from the families that had a death that was not attributed to no belt. Drunk, Drugs or speed. I know there are legitimate cases out there and they know it and have no need to grand stand their cases in the media.
I suspect the lawyers here have a weak case and are sending these people out to try to make them vocal and gain public sympathy to get more money from GM. I hope I am wrong but I have seen this tactic before.
I have seen one family is mad their daughter was killed but not counted as one of the 13 victims. She was also not belted in but the lack of an air bag had nothing to do with her death as she was in the back seat and not belted in.