CAS Letter to GM Victim’s Compensation Fund director Ken Feinberg re: Victim Outreach
The Center for Auto Safety is the nation’s premier independent, member driven, non-profit consumer advocacy organization dedicated to improving vehicle safety, quality, and fuel economy on behalf of all drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.
November 12, 2014
Mr. Kenneth Feinberg
Feinberg & Rozen, LLP
1455 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 390 Washington, DC 20004-1008
Mr. Feinberg:
Limited victim outreach by the GM Ignition Compensation Program means many victims will never be discovered or compensated. Yesterday, the NY Times identified the first victim of the GM ignition switch mass defect as Jean Averill of Washington CT who died in a 2003 Saturn Ion crash on December 23, 2003. The claim on Mrs. Averill’s death was the very first one submitted by GM under the Early Warning Reporting (EWR) System on an ignition switch death. Mrs. Averill’s family reports that the Compensation Program never contacted. How good can the Compensation Program be if it doesn’t contact and provide compensation for the first known victim whose name is in GM’s files?
In a June 2, 2014 letter to you and in a follow-up meeting on June 11, we emphasized: “As a first step to identifying ignition switch victims, every GM recalled vehicle EWR report must be searched for deaths and injuries due to the ignition switch defect.” We even provided a list of the 2,004 EWR claims provided through 2013 to help you get started. We also emphasized: “As a second step to identifying ignition switch victims, the Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) must be searched for deaths in all crashes with the recalled vehicles, not just the ones where the airbags failed to deploy.” As a starter, we provided a list of 303 deaths where the airbag failed to deploy in non-rear impact crashes.
The EWR System now contains 2,703 EWR death and injury claims on the recalled vehicles in the GM Ignition Compensation Program through the second quarter of 2014. (See embedded link.) FARS contains records on 1,751 occupant deaths in the recalled vehicles in the GM Ignition Compensation Program through 2012. (See embedded link.) By no means are all these deaths due to the ignition switch mass defect, but all of the ignition switch deaths of occupants in the recalled vehicles should be in FARS. Further search is necessary to pull out victims in other vehicles in crashes with the recalled vehicles as well as any pedestrians hit by the recalled vehicles when the driver lost control due to the ignition switch mass defect.
Read the full CAS Letter to GM Victim’s Compensation Fund director Ken Feinberg re: Victim Outreach.
Mr. Kenneth Feinberg
Feinberg & Rozen, LLP
1455 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 390 Washington, DC 20004-1008
Mr. Feinberg:
Limited victim outreach by the GM Ignition Compensation Program means many victims will never be discovered or compensated. Yesterday, the NY Times identified the first victim of the GM ignition switch mass defect as Jean Averill of Washington CT who died in a 2003 Saturn Ion crash on December 23, 2003. The claim on Mrs. Averill’s death was the very first one submitted by GM under the Early Warning Reporting (EWR) System on an ignition switch death. Mrs. Averill’s family reports that the Compensation Program never contacted. How good can the Compensation Program be if it doesn’t contact and provide compensation for the first known victim whose name is in GM’s files?
In a June 2, 2014 letter to you and in a follow-up meeting on June 11, we emphasized: “As a first step to identifying ignition switch victims, every GM recalled vehicle EWR report must be searched for deaths and injuries due to the ignition switch defect.” We even provided a list of the 2,004 EWR claims provided through 2013 to help you get started. We also emphasized: “As a second step to identifying ignition switch victims, the Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) must be searched for deaths in all crashes with the recalled vehicles, not just the ones where the airbags failed to deploy.” As a starter, we provided a list of 303 deaths where the airbag failed to deploy in non-rear impact crashes.
The EWR System now contains 2,703 EWR death and injury claims on the recalled vehicles in the GM Ignition Compensation Program through the second quarter of 2014. (See embedded link.) FARS contains records on 1,751 occupant deaths in the recalled vehicles in the GM Ignition Compensation Program through 2012. (See embedded link.) By no means are all these deaths due to the ignition switch mass defect, but all of the ignition switch deaths of occupants in the recalled vehicles should be in FARS. Further search is necessary to pull out victims in other vehicles in crashes with the recalled vehicles as well as any pedestrians hit by the recalled vehicles when the driver lost control due to the ignition switch mass defect.
Read the full CAS Letter to GM Victim’s Compensation Fund director Ken Feinberg re: Victim Outreach.