Category Archives: safety

Another Ford Fire Recall on New Escape and Now Fusion Models

Ford Motor Company is recalling 2013 Ford Escape SE and SEL models equipped with the 1.6-liter engine and 2013 Ford Fusion SE and SEL models equipped with the 1.6-liter engine because of engine fires. Almost 90,000 of Ford’s latest models – both redesigned for 2013 – are affected. Continue reading

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Louisiana Used Car Dealer Sentenced to Prison for Odometer Fraud

Beau Michael Guidry of Baton Rouge, Louisiana was busted flat today by a U.S. District Court judge who sentenced the used car dealer to 20 months in prison for rolling back the odometers on used cars. Moreover, the court ordered Guidry to pay $72,805.51 in restitution to the victims of his crimes. Continue reading

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Melbourne Airport Caught Stealing from Taxpayers in NASA Scam

The misuse of NASA funding by two airport entities has resulted in millions of dollars of fines under the False Claims Act, which is used to look after taxpayer funded government grants. The Technological Research and Development Authority will pay $15 million to resolve allegations that it violated the Act in connection with grants from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Economic Development Administration (EDA) of the Department of Commerce, the Justice Department said Continue reading

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Louisiana Generating to Pay $14 Million for Clean Air Act Violations

Louisiana Generating has agreed to a settlement under the Clean Air Act at its Big Cajun II coal-fired power plant in New Roads, which will result in the elimination of more than 27,300 tons of harmful emissions per year Continue reading

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Volkswagen Recalls Mexican Built Beetles for Defective Airbags

Volkswagen is recalling model year 2012-2013 Beetles equipped with leather seats because the airbags may not deploy properly in an accident. Continue reading

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Toyota Recalls 150,000 Tacoma Pickups for Rust and Corrosion

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. is recalling 150,000 Tacoma pickup trucks from the 2011 to 2004 model years because corrosion can suddenly jettison the spare tire from under the bed. While U.S. Tacoma sales for those years are much higher, only vehicles originally sold or currently registered in 20 cold climate states and the District of Columbia will be inspected and have the spare tire carrier assembly replaced if need be. Critics of such limited actions maintain they do not fix all the potentially unsafe vehicles. Automakers use them to cut down on the costs of a full recall. Continue reading

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Bankrupt American Suzuki can sell off Cars with Ally Credit

American Suzuki Motor Corporation today said that it has received Bankruptcy Court approval of an agreement with Ally Financial to continue providing dealer and buyer financing while it sells off its remaining inventory of small cars. The U.S. Treasury, courtesy of taxpayers, currently holds about 74% of Ally common equity after a bailout, and $5.9 billion in mandatory convertible preferred securities, which have a dividend rate of 9%. Continue reading

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BP in Plea Deal Pays $4 Billion for Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill. Highest Execs Free from Criminal Charges as Stockholders Pay Fines

BP shareholders will pay $4 billion in criminal fines and penalties because of the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill that killed 11 people and caused the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history. The highest BP executive are now clear of future criminal charges as the result of the plea bargain where stockholder will pay fines for causing the monumental oil pollution that is still despoiling the Gulf Coast coast. During the disaster, BP publicly maintained that 5,000 gallons of oil were spewing forth daily into the Gulf, when in fact 60,000 gallons a day were gushing into the water and destroying the ecosystem. Continue reading

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Toyota Recalls 2.7 million Cars for Sudden Stops, Steering Failures

Toyota is recalling almost three million cars including Prius hybrid and Corolla models around the world because the hybrid engine can shut down suddenly or steering can fail completely. The gigantic recall is caused by a bad cooling pump in the hybrid system and a defective steering shaft in hybrids and other cars. More than 1.5 million vehicles are being recalled in Japan, with at least another 1.2 million in other parts of the world. Continue reading

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BMW 7-Series Doors Flying Open – NHTSA forced Recall Underway

After queries from safety agencies in Japan and the U.S., BMW is recalling 2005-2007 model 7-Series sedans because the doors can fly open without warning. A software programming error on the so-called Comfort Access and Soft Close Automatic options does not properly latch the doors. A bump in the road or movement of a passenger can pop the door open. Continue reading

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NHTSA Forces BMW 7-Series Recall for Electronic Shifter Rollaways

BMW is recalling 2005-2008 7-Series vehicles equipped with the so-called Comfort Access option because the electronic key and shift by wire system can put the transmission in Neutral rather than Park. The recall, which affects more than 45,000 BMWs, came after NHTSA ungraded a preliminary inquiry to an engineering analysis last August. At that time NHTSA said that at least 14 accidents and five injuries had been reported with the start/stop “shift by wire” system in BMWs. Continue reading

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GM and BMW Diagnostic Tool Counterfeiter Arrested in Virginia

The seller of Chinese-built counterfeit tools was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia for alleged participating in a conspiracy to sell U.S. consumers more than $3 million worth of counterfeit General Motors (GM) and Bavarian Motor Works (BMW) automotive diagnostic tools, electronic keys and fobs. Continue reading

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Milestones: 25 years of Volvo Airbags

The airbag has been a standard feature in all cars for several years now, but in the early days both the technology and its reliability created intense debate with safety advocates and government regulators ignoring the very real problems earlier designs had. The problem in the U.S. was largely caused by Joan Claybrook and other advocates and legislators who sold the idea of the airbag as eliminating the need for unpopular safety belts and belt interlock system.

In spite of extensive crash test data from Ford and General Motors, among others, showing that the regulation proposed in 1984 and effective in 1987 required a too powerful explosion to protect an unbelted 170-pound male without hurting smaller stature people the law went ahead. Regulators and politicians simply ignored the engineers. Dead drivers and passengers, some of them decapitated, were the grisly result until the regulations were rewritten as field results came in – dead on arrival so to speak. Continue reading

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Taiwan Auto Lights Maker Guilty of Price Fixing

A Taiwan-based auto lights manufacturer and its aftermarket U.S. distributor have pleaded guilty for participating in a seven-year, international conspiracy to fix the prices of auto lights. Tainan County, Taiwan-based Eagle Eyes Traffic Industrial Company and its U.S. subsidiary, Chino, … Continue reading

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Ford Recalls All of the New Fiesta Models for Bad Airbags

Ford is recalling all of its new subcompact Fiesta models built since 2011 because the passenger side-curtain airbag won’t blow up in some cases, and the owner’s manual incorrectly describes the logic of the airbag control module. More than 150,000 Fiesta models are affected and dealers have been instructed to stop the sale of cars in inventory. Continue reading

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