In the wake of the General Motors safety crisis, the mother of one ignition-switch victim is working with lawmakers to ensure motorists receive more information on vehicle defects from dealerships.
Laura Christian, the birth mother of Amber Marie Rose, says car buyers don't often get critical information on safety problems because contractual obligation between car dealers and automakers prohibit disclosure of hazards unless they rise to the level of a recall. Legislation to be introduced later this year would permit dealers to share technical service bulletins with customers and prohibit manufacturers from retaliating against them for doing so.
"It's time to curb abusive practices by the big automakers, including retaliation, audits, limits on ability to disclose information, that make it difficult for local auto dealers to do the right thing for their customers," said Christian, pictured speaking above.
Lawmakers in Maryland are expected to introduce the legislation sometime in 2016. Christian says she intends to seek similar laws in other states. Right now, she's garnering support for the legislation via a petition on change.org.
Her daughter, Amber Marie Rose, was one of the first victims of the defective ignition switches, which GM has since acknowledged have killed at least 124 motorists and injured 275 more. Rose was killed in a crash of her new Chevy Cobalt on July 29, 2005. General Motors knew about the problems with the switches as early as 2001.
"Dealers constantly receive technical bulletins from car companies about issues," Christian writes. "They should be allowed to share what they know with potential buyers."
Related Video:
Laura Christian, the birth mother of Amber Marie Rose, says car buyers don't often get critical information on safety problems because contractual obligation between car dealers and automakers prohibit disclosure of hazards unless they rise to the level of a recall. Legislation to be introduced later this year would permit dealers to share technical service bulletins with customers and prohibit manufacturers from retaliating against them for doing so.
"It's time to curb abusive practices by the big automakers, including retaliation, audits, limits on ability to disclose information, that make it difficult for local auto dealers to do the right thing for their customers," said Christian, pictured speaking above.
Lawmakers in Maryland are expected to introduce the legislation sometime in 2016. Christian says she intends to seek similar laws in other states. Right now, she's garnering support for the legislation via a petition on change.org.
Her daughter, Amber Marie Rose, was one of the first victims of the defective ignition switches, which GM has since acknowledged have killed at least 124 motorists and injured 275 more. Rose was killed in a crash of her new Chevy Cobalt on July 29, 2005. General Motors knew about the problems with the switches as early as 2001.
"Dealers constantly receive technical bulletins from car companies about issues," Christian writes. "They should be allowed to share what they know with potential buyers."
Related Video:
Sign in to post
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Continue