General Motors recently expanded its recall ahead of testimony that its CEO Mary Barra will give to congress today.
GM announced that it will recall an additional 1.3 million cars for potential power steering problems. This recall follows a 2.6 million recall from earlier this year for vehicles that may have defective ignition switches.
The company has come under fire from federal regulators for failing to promptly address the ignition switch problems in its vehicles. There is evidence that GM engineers knew about the problem a decade ago but decided that it would be too expensive or complicated to fix.
The ignition switch problem led to at least 13 deaths, prompting some commentators to call for criminal penalties against GM executives. There is also evidence that the company threatened injured customers with counter-suits and falsely claimed that bankruptcy absolved the company of its obligations to pay for the injuries caused by its defectively manufactured products.
Members of a house subcommittee are likely to probe into why the company did not act sooner to protect is customers and why the NHTSA did not launch an investigation into GM car defects despite receiving reports of consumer deaths.
The Dolan Law Firm handles personal injury cases in San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area. If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, call us at 888-452-4752.
