I am sorry, but this is not JUST caused by a faulty ignition switch.
All the ignition switch problems were caused by people who had too much weight on their key chain or people who ride the steering wheel with their knees hitting the ignition switch. When you hit the steering wheel or the keys pull enough, the car switches to the “accessories” position, killing the engine and losing power assist; the steering wheel was still moveable and the brakes still worked! The deaths were caused because people do not know how to drive cars without power steering and power brakes!
The first death in this entire situation was a woman not wearing her seatbelt, somehow caused the ignition switch to turn to the “accessories” position (which also turns off the airbags), lost control of her car (which it is my understanding from Driver’s Ed you must ALWAYS maintain control of your vehicle) and wrecked!
I am sorry for the loss of her life, but what if she had ran out of gas? Wouldn’t she lose power steering and power brakes? If she wrecked because she lost control of her vehicle due to running out of gas, would that death be less important to her family? Of course, because they couldn’t blame it on GM and they couldn’t get a large cash settlement from them?
I've been thinking about what you wrote. I assume it's correct, as I would not have any of the knowledge it would take to refute it.
I don't think that excuses them at all. Upon buying that car, people should be told "no bulky keychains". The airbag not working when the car is still moving is not a good situation. I always thought it released on any impact, and it should. People should be informed "what to do if the ignition shuts down" as part of of the walk-through of a new car.
One thing I insist on which isn't part of the sales routine is besides a test drive to have a passenger drive, when I'm the passenger while the salesperson describes what one should be aware of when driving the car. It's an idea that's served me well.
Yes, GM has a responsibility. Even if (as you say) these accidents are usually avoidable, information needs to go to the consumer so the driver knows how to avoid them.
>>I am sorry, but this is not JUST caused by a faulty ignition switch.
Read my lips- GM knew there was a fault causing deaths, accepted the risk as “collateral damage” and stonewalled any concerns over a switch that was poorly designed to SAVE MONEY. Simply not acceptable behavior by any CEO or Dept. head. This is moral turpitude and qualifies for social censure and punishment.
Why conservatives give the libs free reign on these issues is utterly beyond me. Malfeasance is malfeasance. Our head in the sand lets them kick us in the butt every time.
No this is a real problem in modern cars. All manuals say to hold down the brake pedal during emergency stop. When the ignition switch in these cars rotated to off position, these vehicles also lost ABS. So all of the touted safety features of the car were disabled all at once. The power going out also disables the airbag.
Neither ABS nor Airbag would be disabled if the ignition switch had remained in ON position, even if the motor was no longer operative, such as running out of gas.
Also, it is not clear what size keychain could trigger the issue. In supposed violent accidents, even minor keychains could trigger the issue.
Unless the GM User Manual covered the ignition key problem, they should be screwed, blued, and tattooed over this, period.