Articles Posted in Road Safety

The national “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign began this week and will run through New Year’s Day 2015. This federal effort will be coordinated with state and local law enforcement officers in order to eliminate drunk driving auto accidents this holiday season.

These National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said that these campaigns are working to reduce the number of drunk driving accident deaths on roadways throughout the country. In fact, the number of drunk driving deaths fell 2.5 percent in 2013. Even though there have been a decrease in deaths caused by people driving under the influence, there is still a big problem with DUIs in the U.S. In fact, last year a person died every 52 minutes from a drunk driving crash.

Drunk Driving Safety Tips

• Before you go to the bar or party, plan a safe way home.
• Choose a designated driver for the night who will commit to staying sober during the evening.
• If you are drunk, or even buzzed, use the SaferRide app, or otherwise get a ride home from a taxi, bus, sober friend or car service.
• If you spot a drunk driver out on the roadway, call the police. You may save a life.
• If you see someone attempting to drive away drunk, do your best to stop them. Take away their keys and make sure they get a safe ride home.
• Don’t get into a car with someone who may be intoxicated.

2014: SaferRide App

The NHTSA has developed a free app, SaferRide, that is available online and allows you to call for a cab or a friend for a ride home that gives them your location automatically. You can get the app here.

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GM has agreed to compensate 42 claimants for deaths related to its ignition-switch defect.

These recent claims are a part of more than 2,000 death and injury claims that have been filed against the car manufacturer so far.

Those that were injured by the faulty ignition switch, as well as family members of those killed, have until January 31 to submit their claims, which will be categorized based on the severity of the injuries, according to reports.

GM has anticipated that the total compensation related to the ignition-switch defect to reach $400 million to $600 million.

GM established a victim compensation fund because they needed to handle the thousands of potential claims that arose from its faulty ignition switch. This fund allows victims and their families to submit their claims and settle with the company out of court instead of suing GM individually or joining a class action suit.

The compensation fund only covers claims involving physical injury or death from the GM defect. They have detailed the acceptable claims as follows:

• Deceased
• Category One: quadriplegia, paraplegia, double amputation, permanent brain damage or pervasive burns
• Category Two: injuries that required a hospital visit within 48 hours of an accident

According to reports from the GM compensation fund, a total of 2,326 claims have been filed since GM started accepting claims in August. As of December 12, only 100 have been deemed eligible.

GM has recalled 2.2 million vehicles in the United States because of the ignition-switch defect, including Saturn Ion, Saturn Sky, Chevy HHR, Pontiac Solstice, Chevy Cobalt and Pontiac G5 models. This defect has cost at least 42 people their lives. The GM compensation fund is still reviewing 34 death claims for eligibility, according to reports.

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Federal safety officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a statement on Tuesday that mandated that auto manufacturers issue a nationwide recall of any vehicle equipped with Takata airbags. More specifically, federal regulators want to expand recalls on all vehicles that have driver side airbags from the Japanese manufacturer for all 50 states and U.S. territories. Before this announcement, recalls were limited to certain states and territories.

The decision to expand recalls happened after researchers determined the problem with Takata airbags may not be limited to states and territories with high humidity, as was originally suspected.

Defective Takata airbags can rupture when deployed and send metal shards flying at vehicle occupants, which is how nearly 8 million U.S. vehicles have been recalled as a result. Since 2008, there have been more than 14 million vehicles across the world recalled for Takata’s airbags.

According to the most recent statistics, five deaths have been linked to the airbags, along with numerous more injuries. If Takata had taken the steps to address the safety issues with their airbags they knew about and had created a safer product, these injuries and deaths could have been prevented.

When auto manufacturers create unsafe or dangerous products, they can be held legally accountable for victims’ damages.

You can use the VIN search tool on the NHTSA website to determine if your vehicle may have been affected by the recall. All vehicle owners that have a defective airbag are urged to take their vehicles in for service immediately.

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Reuters is reporting that the families of people killed or injured in crashes involving General Motors cars that had a deadly ignition switch defect will have an extra month to submit claims for payment under GM’s victim compensation program.

Kenneth R. Feinberg, who administers the compensation fund, decided to extend the deadline to Jan. 31 to give more time to families who might not be aware of the program’s existence.

The extension comes just a week after the identity of Jean P. Averill was revealed, an 81-year-old who was killed in a 2003 crash involving a Saturn Ion. Her death was the earliest fatality GM connected with the faulty ignition switch. The family was unaware of the company’s compensation program or that it was eligible to receive a minimum of $1 million from the fund. According to reports, the family said it had never been contacted by the automaker.

Check if your car is on the GM Ignition Switch Recall list:

• Chevrolet Cobalt (Model Years 2005-2007)
• Chevrolet HHR (Model Years 2006-2007)
• Daewoo G2X (Model Year 2007)
• Opel/Vauxhall GT (Model Year 2007)
• Pontiac G4 (Model Years 2005-2006)
• Pontiac G5 (Model Year 2007)
• Pontiac Pursuit (Model Years 2005-2006)
• Pontiac Solstice (Model Years 2006-2007)
• Saturn Ion (Model Years 2003-2007)
• Saturn Sky (Model Year 2007)
• Chevrolet Cobalt (Model Years 2008-2010)
• Chevrolet HHR (Model Years 2008-2011)
• Daewoo G2X (Model Years 2008-2009)
• Opel/Vauxhall GT (Model Years 2008-2010)
• Pontiac G5 (Model Years 2008-2010)
• Pontiac Solstice (Model Years 2008-2010)
• Saturn Sky (Model Years 2008-2010)

The full list can be viewed by visiting the GM Ignition Compensation Claims Resolution Facility website.

The compensation program has approved 33 claims so far for families of people killed in GM cars. As of Friday, the program has received 2,105 claims, according to reports. Under the terms of the compensation plan, anyone who was a driver, passenger, pedestrian or occupant of another vehicle and was injured or died in an accident caused by a faulty ignition switch in a GM vehicle is eligible to obtain compensation from the fund. The families of those who were killed in accidents will receive a minimum of $1 million under the compensation program, while those injured will most likely receive less. Those that accept compensation under the GM program must agree to release all claims against GM related to the ignition-switch defect.

The company said in a press release that it decided to extend the deadline in an attempt to “provide comprehensive notice and give each claimant an opportunity to file a claim in a timely manner.”

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Takata is in the middle of recalling nearly 12 million automobiles worldwide for faulty airbags. The Japanese manufacturer’s defective airbags have been linked to numerous injuries and deaths. The airbags contain a faulty inflator that can explode and project shrapnel at high speeds, resulting in injuries and death to drivers and passengers.

In the United States, 8 million cars have been recalled due to the faulty airbags, including automobiles manufactured by Honda, Toyota, and General Motors among others. General Motors and Toyota have even gone as far as to issue warnings to owners of recalled models to ban passengers from the front seat, where they are closest to the possibly defective air bags. Toyota has told dealers who do not have replacement parts to disable the passenger-side front air bag and place a warning label on the dashboard.

On Saturday, Nissan announced that it is recalling more than 52,000 vehicles with Takata airbags. The newest of the recalled vehicles were sold or registered in 12 high-humidity states. Humidity can cause the Takata bags propellant to burn too fast and potentially blow apart the metal canisters. The states affected states include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas as well as the territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Saipan, Guam and American Samoa.

Honda has also added hundreds of thousands of vehicles in those same states to an earlier announced recall, including older versions of their three most popular models: the Accord, Civic and CR-V. The company had previously recalled five million vehicles in the United States for issues with Takata airbags.

The following is an updated list of all the vehicles recalled to date:

BMW

2000 – 2005 3 Series Sedan

2000 – 2006 3 Series Coupe

2000 – 2005 3 Series Sports Wagon

2000 – 2006 3 Series Convertible

2001 – 2006 M3 Coupe

2001 – 2006 M3 Convertible

Ford

2004 – Ranger

2005 – 2006 GT

2005 – 2007 Mustang

Mitsubishi

2004 – 2005 Lancer

2006 – 2007 Raider

Nissan

2001 – 2003 Nissan Maxima

2001 – 2004 Nissan Pathfinder

2002 – 2004 Nissan Sentra

2001 – 2004 Infiniti I30/I35

2002 – 2003 Infiniti QX4

2003 – 2005 Infiniti FX35/FX45

Honda

2001 – 2007 Honda Accord)

2001 – 2002 Honda Accord

2001 – 2005 Honda Civic

2002 – 2006 Honda CR-V

2003 – 2011 Honda Element

2002 – 2004 Honda Odyssey

2003 – 2007 Honda Pilot

2006 – Honda Ridgeline

2003 – 2006 Acura MDX

2002 – 2003 Acura TL/CL

2005 – Acura RL

Mazda

2003 – 2007 Mazda 6

2006 – 2007 Mazda Speed 6

2004 – 2008 Mazda RX-8

2004 – 2005 MPV

2004 – B-Series Truck

Subaru

2003 – 2005 Baja

2003 – 2005 Legacy

2003 – 2005 Outback

2004 – 2005 Impreza

Toyota

2002 – 2005 Lexus SC

2002 – 2005 Toyota Corolla

2003 – 2005 Toyota Corolla Matrix

2002 – 2005 Toyota Sequoia

2003 – 2005 Toyota Tundra

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