Consumer Law

Clear and Present Danger: U.S. Supreme Court Greenlights the Chrysler-Fiat Deal

By Andy Hoffman

Buckle your seatbelts, 40 million Chrysler/GM owners?and better hope they work. 

Late yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted its temporary stay of bankrupt Chrysler?s sale to Fiat  ?placing millions of Americans at risk in the process.

Some of these cars are ticking time bombs. For example, thousands of American families are driving defective Chryslers that are equipped with driver and passenger seats that collapse backwards and are killing children in the back seat.  Check out this video.  The company will no longer be accountable if this happens to your family, and if your child is catastrophically injured, the company is completely off the hook.

As we?ve been saying, the Chrysler and GM bankruptcy plans contain loopholes, which shield the companies from being held accountable in court if defects in their cars kill or injure people.  Eliminating liability for these companies will remove the most significant financial incentive they have to fix defects or issue warnings about them. 

Hoftra Law Professor Norman Silber has said, ?Given the terms of the Court?s approval, consumers would be well advised to get rid of any Chrysler purchased before the deal because if this ruling holds, nobody solvent will bear responsibility for design defects.  When it becomes apparent that dumping these cars is the prudent thing to do, anyone who can afford to, will be apt to, do this; and this will leave mainly poor and ignorant persons holding pre-deal Chryslers.?

The sale to Fiat has now happened.  But we understand the fight if far from over, especially when it comes to GM.  Stay tuned.

Full post as published by ThePopTort on June 10, 2009 (boomark / email).