Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Safety Research & Strategies, Inc., a research firm that specializes in motor vehicle issues and safety, recently published a comprehensive report entitled “Public Safety at Risk: Bankruptcies Leave Legacy of Defects, Injuries and Death.” The report presents a concise, statistically supported argument about the dangers of allowing Chrysler and General Motors to shed all liability claims as part of their bankruptcy and restructuring.

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Dozens of accident victims and their lawyers made their way to Washington, DC, and the halls of Capitol Hill last week, urging lawmakers and the Obama administration to protect their ability to pursue medical claims against Chrysler and General Motors.

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MONTGOMERY, ALA. - Beasley Allen attorney J. Cole Portis has filed a lawsuit for an Alabama woman whose husband was killed in a vehicular rollover accident while driving his 1993 Geo Tracker. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama Northern Division, and names as Defendants Suzuki Motor Corporation; American Suzuki Motor Corporation; General Motors; General Motors of Canada, Ltd.; Cami Automotive Inc.; Takata Inc.; Takata-Fischer Corporation; Takata Fabrication Corporation; and Key Safety Restraint Sysytems, Inc. Beasley Allen filed the complaint jointly with Robert Riley, Jr. of the Birmingham, Ala. Firm Riley & Jackson.

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The Ford Pinto is a car that became notoriously associated with fuel-fed crash fires in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the compact vehicle showed a propensity for catching fire when involved in even low-speed crashes. In 1977, a Ford Memo revealed that the company was aware of design problems with the Pinto that made it more susceptible to crash-related fires, but that it had deemed the overall benefits of redesigning the automobile – which included preventing an average of 180 deaths each year – to be not worth the cost – an estimated $11 per automobile.

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The American standard for automobile roof strength, which has been in effect since the 1970s, has been “a total, ineffective disaster,” according to automobile expert Byron Bloch in an investigative report by WBNS TV of Columbus, Ohio.

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So how much do you think your life is worth? $100M? $20M? $420? According to a 1973 General Motors memo, the value of your life is $200,000. Evidently, GM saved over $250M by letting a few hundred people burn to death in their cars.

For nearly 30 years, automobile manufacturers have skirted the issue of fundamental design flaws that make cars prone to catch fire when involved in a crash. Engineers know how to relocate fuel tanks to make them less likely to leak or suffer punctures, but manufacturers have never been held responsible for ensuring their vehicles are safe.

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