Southern California Accident News

Congress Admits Today We cannot protect you from shoddy manufacturers!

Posted on Feb 23, 2010

Congressional leaders are stating in hearings today that NTSA, the National Transportation Safety Administration, lacks the resources to investigate the Toyota acceleration cases. Republicans constantly complain of the need to reduce the federal budget. Democrats constantly complain of the need to increase the federal budget for health and welfare. Both don't seem to realize that government is a poor administrator when we need enforcement of the rights of an individual, and forcing companies to toe the line of safety. 
 
Nothing gets the attention of a car manufacturer more than a Personal injury attorney setting out a claim for compensatory and punative damages.  If an plaintiff can demonstrate the proof necessary to establish wrongful death or serious injury, punative damages and damages for compensation play a huge role in assuring that car manufacturers respond to defects. I would even suggest that  we require the car manufacturers pay the entire attorney fee if the plaintiff prevails, thereby allowing the victim full recovery and allowing Plaintiff lawyers to pursue these cases aggressively. Additionally, the costs put the burden of faulty manufacturing costs onto the manufacturer where it belongs. 
 
Instead, we constantly seem to think that we can put more government onto the concept of evaluating and monitoring corporations. Unfortunately, through bureaucratic reality, lack of fiscal restraint, and ineffectiveness of government in its interaction with business, we spend a great deal of money accomplishing nothing. 
 
The indictment of Toyota today at the congressional hearings is no less of an indictment on the National Transportation Safety Administration who is inept at making car manufacturers truly respond to consumer complaints and defects that caused sudden acceleration of cars. 
 
It's a shame that the concept of corporate honesty has devolved, or should I say the American public has been fooled into believing that corporations will act in fairness, need minimum oversight, and will protect us as they make a reasonable profit.

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