General Motors recalled 1.5 million vehicles this week as part of an effort to assure consumers that the company is moving more quickly to correct safety defects in its vehicles. CEO Mary Barra said in a video message to employees posted on Monday that the new recall occurred because there…
A faulty ignition switch has led General Motors to recall nearly 780,000 older-model compact cars in North America. The switch can shut off the engine without warning and cause dangerous accidents. According to GM, six people have died in twenty-two crashes tied to the ignition switch problem in Chevrolet Cobalts…
Toyota Motor Corp. has instructed North American automobile dealers to cease selling six popular models that come equipped with heated seats because the fabric is not in compliance with U.S. safety codes and could potentially result in fire. Toyota spokesman John Hanson says the order affects 36,000 cars, trucks, and…
Last week the government proposed new regulations that would require child car seats to protect children from injury and death in side-impact crashes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s proposed regulations would increase standards for child car seats for children weighing up to forty pounds by adding new tests that…
An Indiana family is suing a parasailing company that provided equipment to their daughter in Panama City Beach last summer. The daughter, seventeen-year-old Alexis Fairchild, suffered serious injuries on July 1, 2013, when the rope that was tethering her and her friend, Sidney Good, to a boat snapped. After the…
New crash tests performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety revealed that subcompact cars may not be very safe. The IIHS tested twelve of these “minicars” and none received the highest rating of “good.” The Chevrolet Spark earned the second-highest rating, “acceptable.” Six of the other subcompact cars that…
Ford Motor Co. has issued a recall in the U.S. for nearly 28,000 Edge crossover vehicles due to a possibility of the damper in the fuel line cracking and causing fuel leaks. The recall involves the 2012 and 2013 models of the Ford Edge with 2.0-liter engines. All of the…
Union Carbide Corporation, the defendant in an asbestos case, has just a few weeks to file a motion requesting the Mississippi Supreme Court review an unfavorable ruling in its case. On December 12, the Mississippi Supreme Court overruled a trial judge’s decision to throw out a $3.85 million judgment in…
A University of Iowa pharmaceutical lab is facing an unusual personal injury lawsuit in California that has already cost the school thousands in legal fees and will likely cost it many thousands more. The state of Iowa is paying a Los Angeles law firm around $500 per hour to fight…
Honda Motor Co. topped the insurance industry’s list of safest new cars this year. Earlier this month, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awarded thirty-nine vehicles top safety ratings for the coming year. The number is down quite a bit from last year’s one-hundred-thirty vehicles that received top ratings. This…