GM Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Airbag Failures Kill People by David A. Wood, CarComplaints.com
A GM class action lawsuit alleges the sensing and diagnostic modules prevent the airbags and seat belt pretensioners from deploying in certain frontal crashes. According to the class action lawsuit, at least 1,298 people were killed or injured in frontal collisions in which the airbags failed to deploy in GM vehicles. The lawsuit alleges that statistic is based on information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from 1999 to the present. According to the class action: “The ‘Class Vehicles’ herein include all vehicles in the United States that contain the SDM [sensing and diagnostic module] Calibration Defect that were (1) manufactured, sold, distributed, or leased by Defendants or (2) manufactured, sold, distributed, or leased by Old GM and purchased or leased by Plaintiff or a Class member after July 10, 2009.” The General Motors class action lawsuit was filed by plaintiffs
Jamar Chism (2012 Chevrolet Traverse), Ashley DeGruy (2014 Chevrolet Equinox), Kissy Elliott (2014 Chevrolet Traverse), William Garrison (2014 Chevy Silverado), Matthew Mastracci (2014 Chevy Silverado), Arthur Ray (2010 GMC Sierra 2500), Mark Silver (2014 Chevrolet 1500 Express) and Kenith Yates (2014 Chevrolet Silverado LD.) None of the plaintiffs allege their GM vehicles experienced any airbag or seat belt failures. But those plaintiffs allege millions of vehicles are dangerous to drive because the airbags and seat belt pretensioners can fail right when they are needed the most. The plaintiffs claim the airbag control units are defective, components GM refers to as sensing and diagnostic modules. The GM sensing and diagnostic module commands the airbags to deploy and the seat belts to tighten when the control unit senses a crash. The GM vehicles are allegedly equipped with airbag control unit software calibrated to prevent the airbags and seat belt preten-
sioners from deploying 45 milliseconds after a crash has begun. The lawsuit says this is a serious problem where a crash involves multiple impacts and the airbags fail to properly deploy. The lawsuit alleges occupants will never be protected in certain GM frontal crashes that involve multiple impacts. The class action provides an example where a vehicle first hits a curb and then veers and hits a tree, or a vehicle first hits a speed bump and then crashes into the vehicle in front of it. These are “concatenated” crashes which involve multiple inputs for the sensing and diagnostic modules to detect during a crash sequence. “In concatenated crashes, the first part of the incident (hitting a curb) sends the SDM into its ‘wake up’ or ‘stand by’ mode. The initial curb hit does not trigger the airbag or tighten the seatbelt, but the SDM ‘wakes up’ to confirm whether further irregular signals will follow and indicate a need for the seatbelts or airbags,” the GM class action lawsuit alleges.
Hyundai Trunk Latch Recall: Emergency Releases May Fail by David A. Wood, CarComplaints.com
A Hyundai trunk latch recall has been announced for more than 348,000 vehicles because people could get trapped in the trunks without access to working internal emergency release latches. The 2017-2018 Hyundai Sonata, 2016-2018 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, 2018-2020 Hyundai Accent and 2016-2017 Hyundai Azera trunk latches may become damaged. The damage can prevent the emergency trunk release latch to fail, a violation of federal safety standards. The Hyundai trunk latch pawl can contract and crack when exposed to high ambient (room) temperatures, causing damage to the pawl and the inability to use the emergency trunk release. Hyundai says the material used to manufacture the pawl isn’t strong enough to handle high temperatures. It’s possible a Hyundai owner will know of a problem if the trunk has trouble opening. In June, Hyundai was contacted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration asking the
automaker to look into a complaint from the owner of a 2017 Hyundai Sonata. The customer reported the trunk wouldn’t open and Hyundai learned the trunk latch assembly pawl had fractured. Hyundai had opened an investigation in 2017 after increased claims were filed in high temperature regions of the Middle East. The trunk latch assembly’s pawl material and shape was updated to better withstand the heat damage and fractures of the pawls. Hyundai dealers will replace the trunk latch assemblies once owner recall notices are mailed Oct. 1. The new trunk latch assembly pawl has improved material increasing its resistance to heat damage. Additionally, the new pawl contains steel reinforcement to prevent damage and fractures. Owners of Hyundai Sonata, Sonata Hybrid, Accent and Hyundai Azera vehicles may call 855-371-9460. Hyundai’s reference number for this recall is 208. In addition to the Hyundai trunk latch recall, Kia recalled more than 253,000 vehicles for the same problem.
50 SEPTEMBER 2021 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com
The GM airbags and seat belt pretensioners can allegedly only be triggered “within 45 milliseconds of a first, irregular signal. If a second signal occurs after 45 milliseconds, the SDM purposefully, by design, disregards signals that would otherwise trigger airbag deployment.” This, according to the class action lawsuit, results in a “dead zone” beginning just 45 milliseconds into a crash after which occupants are completely vulnerable. General Motors has recalled millions of vehicles due to problems with the sensing and diagnostic modules, including a recall of 4 million vehicles in 2016. The modules also caused another recall of about 88,000 GMC vehicles in 2018. The GM class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan: Chism, et al., v. General Motors, LLC, et al. The plaintiffs are represented by the Miller Law Firm, P.C., Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, Baron & Budd, P.C., and Birka-White Law Offices.
Let OEM quality call the shots Help set the scene for greater customer satisfaction with our cast of factory-original Genuine Volkswagen Collision Parts.
FLORIDA
GEORGIA
Orlando Volkswagen South Orlando
Jim Ellis Volkswagen Atlanta
Fax: 407-581-0671
770-454-7711 Fax: 770-986-0001
M-F 7:30am-6pm; Sat 7:30am-5pm rwright01@vtaig.com
M-Sat 7:30am-7pm vwwholesaleparts@jimellis.com
Orlando Volkswagen North Orlando
MISSISSIPPI
866-651-8873 407-581-0630
321-214-3169
Fax: 407-644-9408 M-F 7:30am-6pm; Sat 7:30am-5pm spearce@vtaig.com
800-653-5547
Volkswagen of South Mississippi D’lberville
228-864-6622
Fax: 228-354-8184 M-F 7:30am-6pm; Sat 8am-3pm robert.myers@raybrandtautogroup.com
Find an authorized Volkswagen dealer near you at vwwholesaledealers.com “ Volkswagen” and the Volkswagen logo are registered trademarks of Volkswagen AG. ©2021 Volkswagen of America, Inc.
