"A glimpse into the process of deciding claims in GM crisis" by Hilary Stout, New York Times November 16, 2014
WASHINGTON — If this Monday is like almost every other one this fall, the acknowledged death toll from General Motors’ defective ignition switch will rise.
Inside a hushed suite of law offices here, 500 miles away from the automaker’s Detroit headquarters, the victim-compensation team led by Kenneth R. Feinberg will post its weekly update of the number of death and injury claims it has found to be eligible for payment by GM.
The company is Feinberg’s client, paying him for his work, and weighing in behind the scenes on dozens of cases. But Feinberg has already identified well more than twice as many deaths from the defective switch than the company did — 32 instead of 13 — and is on pace to pinpoint many more.
It is an unusual process, intended to show the company living up to its “civic duty” to help victims, as its chief executive, Mary T. Barra, has put it, while also sparing the automaker long and costly court cases.
Car just stalled out.
Related: E-mails cast doubt on GM timeline of when it knew of ignition threat
I suppose it is their "civic duty" to lie.
But in giving Feinberg sole discretion to determine who the victims are and how much money they should receive, GM could end up paying more money to more people than the courts would have allowed.
The review process is confidential, but recently, Feinberg and his deputy, Camille Biros, agreed to provide The New York Times with a glimpse of how they evaluate claims. They answered questions, allowed a reporter into the windowless conference room of Feinberg’s law offices where they make the final decisions, and showed a handful of claims with names and additional details concealed to protect identities.
GM declined to make anyone available for interviews but agreed to answer questions about the process in writing.
The program stipulates that the company cannot overrule Feinberg but it is entitled to be heard. Interviews show that during the review stages over the last three months, GM has participated in conference calls with Feinberg’s team, submitted documents, and presented findings by its own engineers in certain cases.
But rarely, Feinberg and GM say, has the automaker’s feedback changed his mind.
“Ken Feinberg ultimately decides who is eligible, and we support his determinations,” GM said.
Feinberg said the company has never questioned the amount of an award, many of which are in the millions of dollars. “It has nothing to do with dollars,” he said. “GM’s focus is exclusively eligibility.”
His last experience developing a victim compensation plan for a corporate client — BP after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill — was difficult. The company complained that he was awarding too much money to too many businesses claiming economic losses, even as business owners and plaintiffs’ lawyers said he was too slow and not generous enough.
No such public uproar has surrounded the GM effort. But GM keeps close tabs on the claims coming to Feinberg. Every name and vehicle identification number are submitted to the company as they arrive.
The faulty ignition switch was found to cause a moving car to suddenly turn off, making it difficult to control and deactivating the air bag system. Of the 2,036 accident claims filed with the compensation program as of last week, 1,095 had been submitted with no documentation — just names, vehicle identification numbers, and basic information.
GM has “asked to talk to us” about 72 cases, Biros said. “They give us whatever information they want us to hear.”
Feinberg has a reputation as the country’s most renowned victim compensation expert — a man called on to administer programs in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings and the World Trade Center attacks, and oversee One Fund Boston, formed to aid victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.
He is also the gatekeeper to the Kennedy secrets.
That has been valuable to GM’s effort to restore public trust as it faces multiple investigations and lawsuits over its long delay in addressing the safety issue and recalling the cars with the defective switch.
But his determinations have wrested control of the death count from the company, and have effectively become the official record of the human toll. GM has been rendered a bystander as, week after week, the number of death claims accepted by the program edges up.
The automaker has made its first payments to families under the program, though it has not publicly announced it.
Biros said the discussion with the company usually takes place during a conference call involving engineers who are familiar with the cases and other employees. One may be a lawyer, she said, but usually the engineers dominate.
Often, documents are submitted, including correspondence from customer service files or records from reviews of claims filed against the company. Sometimes, the engineers provide their own analysis of so-called black box data or circumstances of the crash.
The program never announces when it makes payment offers or how much those offers are. But when asked, Feinberg and Biros said they had made 40 official offers. Twenty-eight families have accepted, thus waiving their right to sue GM. No one has declined. GM has sent checks to 15 families, a spokesman said.
Feinberg’s formula for compensation in deaths starts at $1 million and can run into several million dollars, after adding a lifetime’s projected lost earnings and $300,000 each for surviving dependents and spouse.
Neither Feinberg nor GM has disclosed what his firm is being paid. His work on the funds for the Boston Marathon, 9/11, and other noncorporate clients was done for the public good without charge.
Yeah, he's so fair!
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So where were the regulators in all this?
Related: Death toll rises in GM recalls
GM faulty ignition switch deaths up to 23
GM fund approves 24th death claim
GM looks to new vehicles, China to boost profit
Something just seems wrong with that.
GM third-quarter earnings exceed expectations
Third-quarter earnings were $1.38 billion.
Report: Treasury OKs big pay raises for GM, Ally
Why not, huh?
GM to add 750 workers to build small pickup trucks
GM issues recalls, tells dealers to stop truck sales
GM: Parts ready to fix SUVs that can catch fire
House panel: Safety agency mishandled GM recall
Safety agency to push for national air bag recall
Testy exchanges pepper D.C. hearing on air bags
Auto safety agency under US review, Obama official says
US agency threatens to act against air bag maker
They are still stuck in the breakdown lane.
"Takata air bag warning leaves drivers looking for answers" by Hiroko Tabuchi and Christopher Jensen, New York Times October 22, 2014
NEW YORK — Consumers were left in confusion Tuesday over air bags at risk of rupture, with federal auto safety regulators urging owners of more than 5 million vehicles to “act immediately” to get them replaced, and automakers insisting that many replacement parts are simply not available.
But just finding out whether a car needs to be repaired was proving difficult for many owners.
A link from the website of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that allows consumers to look up their car by vehicle identification number was not responding, and calls to an operator on a hot line — 1-888-327-4236 — were put on hold. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Do I really even need to say anything?
Besides the agency’s website, a nationwide clearinghouse for recall information that covers vehicles registered in the United States, most automakers allow searches by vehicle identification number, including those covered in Monday’s warning: Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, and BMW.
Chrysler, Subaru, Ford, and Mitsubishi also have recalls for the same problem with Takata air bags, but their vehicles were not listed in the warning by regulators. The agency said it was still completing its list.
At the heart of the defect is faulty propellant inside the air bag that is unstable and can explode, sending metal shards flying into the cabin. Regulators say the propellant is especially vulnerable in areas of high humidity. The faulty air bags have been linked to at least three deaths and more than 100 injuries, according to automakers, law enforcement agencies, lawyers, injury victims, and families of those killed.
In all, more than 14 million vehicles from 11 automakers have been recalled for the defect, most in the last two years.
As the recalls have mounted, many automakers have not had enough replacement parts to complete the repairs, leaving consumers frustrated, especially after Monday’s warning....
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Related: Air bag maker is said to have conducted secret tests of units
Audi recalls 102,000 cars for airbag defect
Honda to fix more air bags, if asked
Honda failed to report injury claims
Air bag defect spurs recall of newer Nissan Infinitis
Japan orders air bag maker to conduct probe
More hot air:
"The Federal Highway Administration continues to say the guardrails, found on highways in most every state, meet crash-test criteria. The Texas manufacturer, Trinity Industries, denies there is a problem. But internal communications and documents from the highway administration show a senior engineer expressed reservations about the guardrails’ safety before he signed off on their continued use two years ago. At one point, officials drafted a letter asking the manufacturer to conduct more testing, but it was never sent, according to interviews and a review of documents by The New York Times."
Also see: Jury rules against Texas company in guardrail case
Often, auto safety unit is slow to act
Seems to be a regular route.
FERC fails to act on complaint of New England electricity market manipulation
It's extortion to get a pipeline.
"In addition to reporting its surge in quarterly profits, Toyota Motor issued a more optimistic outlook for the year. Toyota, which has kept its narrow lead in the global sales rankings this year, said its yearly forecast of $17.5 billion included net profit in the three months through September. Chrysler said it earned $611 million in the third quarter."
It's record profits all around!
Chrysler recalling nearly 907,000 cars, SUVs
It's a new yearly record for recalls!
Chrysler recalls 184,215 SUVs for air bag defect
Chrysler recalls vehicles to fix ignition switches
Fiat Chrysler shares, in their US debut, close the day lower
Fiat Chrysler to spin off luxury brand Ferrari
Suspension problem prompts Toyota recall
Ford falls as third-quarter revenue slips
Ford shares fall as company lowers Europe outlook
Chrysler, Ford add to recalls
US inquiry focuses on Ford power steering woes
Chevy makes the best of exec’s nervous World Series speech
Ford recalls Fusions; software causes key problem
Ford’s aluminum F-150 almost ready for prime time
Complaints say Ford Fiesta’s doors don’t latch
Minivans do poorly in new crash tests
Is there anyone who doesn't make a complete piece of crap car?
VW to let labor groups represent workers at Chattanooga plant
Let's check the gas milage:
"Hyundai, Kia to pay US $100m for overstating gas mileage" by Tom Krisher and Eric Tucker, Associated Press November 03, 2014
WASHINGTON (AP) — Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia will pay the U.S. government a $100 million civil penalty to end a two-year investigation into overstated gas mileage figures on window stickers on 1.2 million vehicles.
It's a kicked back backfire!
The penalty, announced Monday by the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, is the first under new rules aimed at limiting the amount of heat-trapping gases cars are allowed to emit. Those regulations are a cornerstone of President Barack Obama’s plans to combat global warming and are achieved largely through improving vehicle fuel economy.
Still couldn't make it to the mall.
The payment could also serve as a precedent for other automakers who overstate mileage in violation of the Clean Air Act. Attorney General Eric Holder said the settlement underscores the need for car companies to be honest about their compliance with emissions standards....
They are going to have to "forfeit their greenhouse gas credits."
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Related: Justice Department collected nearly $25b in fiscal 2014
Most of it kickbacks from Wall Street banks.
Automakers aim to drive away car computer hackers
Maybe you better hitch a ride instead.
NEXT DAY UPDATES:
Passengers in the middle of ride-sharing dispute
GM recall targets faulty headlights
Let's approach this from a different angle: Is there anything in them not faulty?
I $uppo$e this is what happens when corporate greed infects all in$titutions.
FURTHER UPDATES:
Honda adds 2.6m vehicles to air bag repair list
