A Texas lawyer representing the families of more than 60 people killed and 600 seriously injured in accidents allegedly caused by faulty ignition switches in General Motors vehicles criticized the automaker and the federal regulatory agency that fined it $35 million yesterday for taking more than a decade to disclose the defect in millions of cars.
"Thirty-five million dollars is pennies in a fountain, less then 1 percent of GM's total net worth and cash on hand," said Robert C. Hilliard, whose clients include a Boston College graduate assistant football coach whose sister was killed while driving a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which levied the fine, "has always been seen as a toothless tiger, a joke inside the walls of the big car companies," Hilliard said. "This is a complete victory for GM ... NHTSA needs to speak on behalf of the memories of my clients' loved ones ... It needs to order these defective cars parked now."
Although the maximum fine from safety regulators was doubled to $35 million this year, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx urged Congress to raise it to $300 million.
Phil Trautwein, the coach whose 19-year-old sister, Sarah, was killed five years ago when her car veered off a South Carolina highway at 8 a.m. and hit a tree, went a step further.
"We want criminal charges against GM," Trautwein told the Herald, urging people to join the more than 109,000 others calling for that in a petition on Change.org/GM.
The nation's largest auto-maker already is the subject of a criminal probe by the U.S. Justice Department, as well as a civil investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
NHTSA also is fining the company $7,000 a day for failing to answer 107 questions about the ignition-switch recalls by April 3.
GM has acknowledged knowing since at least 2001 that the switches in its Chevrolet Cobalts, Saturn Ions and other compact cars could turn off without warning, disabling the power steering and brakes, as well as the air bags.
But although automakers are required by law to report safety-related problems within five days, it was not until February that the company began recalling 2.6 million of the cars.
"GM's ultimate goal is to create an exemplary process and produce the safest cars for our customers," CEO Mary Barra said in a statement yesterday. "They deserve no less."
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