2015 was a pretty terrible year when it came to auto recalls. We saw some truly mind-blowing accounts of defects in hardware and software that car and truck manufacturers pushed forward in the name of the almighty dollar. The silver lining, of course is that the US auto-safety advocates and regulatory committees finally said “Enough is enough!” You might say that 2015 was the year that we all struck back in the name of accountability. Now, we just need to continue to support the agencies that alerted us to the problems in the first place.

So just how bad were automotive defects in 2015? Much worse than you might think. Here are some of the most recent – and worst – offenders:

December, 2015

• BMW is hit with a $40 million penalty, which “stem[med] from the company’s failure to tell vehicle owners promptly of recalls and from its failure to fix a version of the Mini Cooper that failed a side-impact crash test.” BMW claimed to have noticed the defect in 2014, but as of July 2015 still hadn’t fixed the problem like it promised it would.
• Fiat Chrysler is fined $70 million after reporting to the “National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in September that it had discovered ‘significant’ under-reporting of crash deaths and injuries possibly linked to vehicle defects as required under the TREAD Act. Along with the fine, FCA acknowledged that its reporting failures dated to when the TREAD Act first took effect in 2003.” This fines comes after FCA recalled 121,000 Dodge darts for problems with their brakes.

November, 2015

• Takata Corp, manufacturer of defective airbags at the heart of multiple lawsuits stemming from 2008, is still fighting class-actions suits. In November, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration fined the company $200 million, an unprecedented amount at the time. Takata’s exploding airbags have been implicated in the deaths of eight people.

October, 2015

• Toyota recalls 6.5 million cars from countries around the world after it is discovered that a glitch in the power window switches can cause them to short circuit and start a fire. Thankfully, only one person reported an injury before the recall was issued.

September, 2015

• Volkswagen admits to “circumventing the emissions control system in about 482,000 vehicles sold in the United States since 2008 with the 2.0-liter diesel engine. As many as 11 million vehicles worldwide may be affected.” The expected cost of fixing the problem is now in the billions.
• General Motors “acknowledged a total of 15 deaths, as well as a number of serious injuries” from defective ignition switches. It agrees to pay $900 million in return for deferred prosecution. In layman’s terms, GM paid a fine and no one went to jail.

We have discussed auto accidents a lot over the past few years, but this incomplete list just goes to show that sometimes, no matter what you do, you are at risk of being hurt. It is crucial that you do your homework and research the car you want to buy before you buy it, and that you stay vigilant when it comes to recalls. If you are injured by a defective auto product, the Knoxville auto accident attorneys of Banks & Jones may be able to help. Please contact us to find out more.