GM Ignition Switch Cover Up

[Crazy Paul]

This story will test all your emotions.
Bravo to all the little guys persistent enough to take on the giant.


http://pando.com/2014/10/18/gms-hit-...al-in-history/

[Zodiac]

Wow amazing to trace it down to the start and read as it went along. Great article and thanks for sharing. Shame it had to take that route.

[Seattle09GT]

Wow. Where to start here (and I feel GM is undefendable on this but there is so much hyperbole in this piece).

As dusk bled into darkness early the next evening, she was driving north over a stick-straight section of Highway 9 at 58 mph when it happened again. The Cobalt’s engine shut off and the lights inside and outside the car dimmed.

The author of this story left out that the weather conditions were severe and she was over the posted speed limit - details.

Melton hit the brakes, but no power from the engine meant no anti-lock brakes and no power steering.

No ABS - correct - but no brakes - not correct. The master cylinder keeps pressure in the system for two good push of the brakes, more than enough to slow or stop a car down.

The car fell into a skid. Tires squealing, the Cobalt’s back end fishtailed, coming up on her left. Melton instinctively spun the wheel counterclockwise.

She did? Amazing considering the story indicates that she no longer had any steering. At that speed the lack of power steering is a near non-issue. Steering gets lighter the faster you go, at 58 MPH even a Cobalt isn't offer much boost assist to the steering. So she over compensated on a straight flat section of wet highway - while speeding in the rain - and that is GMs fault. Litigation in this country never ceases to stun me.

Three and a half seconds after the engine quit, Melton was the reluctant driver’s seat passenger of a car hydroplaning sideways across the centerline.

I didn't know that tires "squealed" when hydroplanning. Why do cars hydroplane? Two main reasons - driving too fast for conditions and/or improperly maintained tires. Period.

In the southbound lane, bearing down at highway speed, was a gray Ford Focus driven by a 26-year-old man from nearby Acworth, GA, his two-year-old daughter strapped in the back.

Ahh, the drama builds on the evil corporation. Because GM brass was dreaming of this very scenario - if anything - they were broken hearted it wasn't a family of six.

The Focus plowed into the passenger side of Melton’s Cobalt: 3,000 pounds of steel, glass, plastic, and human smashing into 3,000 pounds of steel, glass, plastic, and human. While Brooke’s lap belt glued her waist to the seat, her shoulder harness went slack the instant the engine shut off.

Full stop. Her seat belt went slack because the motor stopped? WHAT?!? What is this a 1991 Honda Accord with motorized seat belts? The inertia mechanism for seatbelt tensioners in accidents has been around - forever. It's pretty fool proof technology and as I understand it, in no way dependent upon the car operating or not. It's a pretty basic system that works on g-forces and gravity, no power required. A power on requirement would be beyond stupidity because a car can lose power in any violent accident. That means any seatbelt would go slack on any Delta platform vehicle in any accident where there is a power loss.

Sorry. Wrong answer. In a side impact (the story said side impact) the inertia mechanism wouldn't lock the belt - especially on a full on t-boning. Anyone can watch the IIHS test crash side impact videos and see this in car after car after car after car. The head violently moving around crashing if the systems work into a side air bags, and if things don't work, crashing into the steering wheel, or the a-pillar, or through the window.

I stopped reading at this point due to the junk science and a lack of understanding on how basic systems work.

She had two to three good presses of the brakes. She would have had steering that got progressively heavier as she slowed down. Cars don't hydroplane because they lose power - as a matter of fact the way you get out of a hydroplanning situation is to reduce engine power. A car losing power and slowing on its own momentum would be less likely to hydroplane. The seat belt tensioner is not dependent on engine power, unless GM did something incredibly stupid - and if it does rely on engine power my next question is does the G8 have the same requirement. Because that is an idiotic design.

I can climb into any car, buckle up, and if I move my body rapidly forward at my waist downward, lock the seatbelt to the point that it keeps retracting and the only to solve is to unbuckle, return to its full position and pull it out slowly. Heck grab a seatbelt and pull on it to hard too fast and it will lock into place - no power required.

I'm sorry for the family's loss. Truly sorry. But speeding, rain, and over reaction to a simple and very common emergency I don't see as GM's fault. Cars lose power all the time, it is a very common occurrence.

[GXP-G8]

Very Well Said Sir !
and totally agree.

[Phil@PnP Tech]

I owned a 2005 Cobalt. Actually loved the car... I would probably still own it today if I hadn't traded it in on my G8 which was in October 2011. I JUST received a generic letter from GM's CEO stating their sincere apologies and how they are hiring all these new quality people to make their cars the safest on the road. Basically, it said they were sorry I risked my life each day I drove that car. I wish I would have kept it but it seemed a bit much...

[SLA]

So I take it that this is the same switch problem that spurred our recall? And they're still just changing the key instead of fixing the switch?

[texn884]

So sad over a inexpensive fix.

Its what happens when parts get farmed out to china to make stuff. CHEAP CHINA SHIT!

[Seattle09GT]

So I take it that this is the same switch problem that spurred our recall? And they're still just changing the key instead of fixing the switch?

No. Our recall is more out of an abundance of caution. There is no torque issue with our ignition cylinders.

Frankly I find the G8 recall utterly ridiculous. Go sit in your car in a normal driving position. To get your knee to even touch the key fob you'd have to crank the seat to the point your chest is on the steering wheel, you'd have to bend over the wheel itself, and move your knee up into a completely unnatural position.

Is it "possible" in say a severe wreck and being tossed around? I guess maybe, possibly. But I would add if you're in an impact that severe you're probably not "controlling" the car anymore at that point.

I have no plans to comply with the recall - I simply see no need.

[Periodic]

curious if when power is lost to electric power steering, do the wheels lock? Article makes it seem like the lady was able to still turn the wheel with her overcorrecting?

The ignition thing is an issue, and a cover up, I'm not doubting that at all. What I am doubting is that these deaths, or at least the one noted in the article are 100% the fault of the faulty ignition switch? It seems that the ignition switch failure was what started a sequence of bad events, but really is it to blame for the death. I some times wonder how prepared people are for emergencies when they drive.

If the car still had steering (assuming that when power is lost, it is no different than good old fashioned manual steering), the engine had lost power, thus enabling a deceleration, and those Cobalt's have mechanical emergency brakes. Perhaps there is more driver error here than what we were led to read in that article. I would assume that once power was lost, the car started tracking towards the curb/ditch/shoulder, following the natural gradient of a crowned road. This cause panic for the driver who instinctively overcorrected, causing a spin. You see similar things all the time, where someone tracks off the edge of asphalt when not paying full attention, reacts, cranks wheel, and ends up upside down in the ditch on the opposite side of the road.

[todds87ss]

Wow. Where to start here (and I feel GM is undefendable on this but there is so much hyperbole in this piece).

I think your post also reflects my feelings about this.

and the only emotion of mine that was tested was my gag reflex. It sickens me that we cannot just present facts and let the chips fall where they need to. We have to embellish to get attention.
Shame on us.
Let's tell the truth for a change.
"I was speeding on a rainy day and hit a patch of water. I did not know exactly how to react, and in my confusion, my knee hit the key (attached to which were 30 troll dolls and a whistle on a 3 foot lanyard). My car turned off, rendering my ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY (at my driving skill level) ABS, Airbag, and other nanny devices useless. In my panic, I hit oncoming traffic, wreaking havoc on another family unnecessarily. I expect GM, since they have the largest pockets, to make this right, so I am not responsible for my actions, and I can continue to drive, drink, and text all at the same time guilt free."