Shares of Ford (NYSE:F), General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Toyota (NYSE:TM) are all down on a shocking US Supreme Court ruling, which said that car companies who were in compliance with federal standards on seat belts are not protected from being sued by owners.
In another shocker, it was a unanimous ruling, which stated that a California suit against Mazda could go forward. In 2002, a passenger sitting in a rear seat who was wearing a lap-only seat belt was killed.
The family sued Mazda, saying that the minivan was defective. Mazda said it was in compliance with federal safety regulations in effect at the time of the accident; an appellate court in California agreed.
But the Supreme Court overturned the appellate court ruling, stating that federal safety regulations don't pre-empt state lawsuits that claim car manufacturers should have installed lap-and-shoulder belts.
So what are federal safety standards for?
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Toyota (TM), Ford (F), GM (GM) Down after Shocking Supreme Court Decision
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6 comments:
Our government doesn't make the cars, their job is to protect the citizens of the U.S. The car manufacturers make cars (and hence the profits), it's common sense then that the auto manufacturers take the responsibility for the safety of their own products.
I agree with the first post EXCEPT the regulations for car safety should be 100% scrapped. It's a waste of taxpayers money, doesn't protect manufacturers and clearly doesn't protect citizens.
If and when lawsuits such as this punishes the manufacturers only and not the regulators like the Federal Safety Regulations whose role is to ensure that manufacturers meets the standard safety measures then, why would it be necessary to have these regulators exists in the first place and let the taxpayers pay for their existence?
It is not fair for the manufacturers to solely borne the responsibility and let the regulators get away from it. Is it simply because they are part of the government and therefore the government are indispensable?
This decision defies common sense! Every time that decisions like this are rendered, we all lose freedoms. Why have companies comply with federal (Nanny), cumbersome regulations, only to find that the time, added costs and benefits do nothing for the creator of good products consumers want/need, except punish them for compliance. Exempt all of us from common sense personal responsibility and we all pay in fines that result in price increases on the same products we want/need. Amazing! I fail to see the logic in this.
Regulation does not save lives; DRIVERS saves lives. Do not put all the blame on manufacturers (only happens in USA) for all things that goes wrong; drivers are responsible too.
This ruling adopted the position argued by the Obama administration, which said the Federal regulations were meant only as minimum standards. This is just another example of the insidious arm of the Obama administration pushing up the cost of goods.
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