[erichurkman]

My partner worked in the legal claims department of a major (unnamed) vehicle manufacturer for a number of years. Even new agents were given massive empowerment dollars to shut lawyers up to keep them out of court. It really was an micro-industry unto itself, to the point that lawyers would get to know the company's defense agents from filing so many suits. Some cars did have problems, but not many. Most seemed to stem from awful lawyers and/or car dealers providing a terrible customer experience.

[flatline]

A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one...

[dragontamer]

A valuable quote from Fight Club, but reality is unfortunately different.

A $2 recall could have saved the lives of 13 with regard to the GM ignition switch problem, while the Nissan Airbag recall has only been attributed to 3 accidents (0 deaths, 0 injuries) while affecting a million vehicles.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/01394d0c27844fa5be3fa6...

Companies (even standard ones, like Nissan) are willing to recall minor safety issues, while other companies are completely worthless at performing recalls (GM Ignition Switch).

[ZeroGravitas]

Many of Chuck Palahniuk's story ideas are inspired by real events. This one is a clear reference to the Ford Pinto:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Pinto#Allegations_and_laws...

[dragontamer]

Thanks for the link. Seems like a black swan story to me then, I guess I'm living in a different era because I've never encountered such a situation in my personal lifetime.

At worst, the current GM Ignition switch issue seems to demonstrate gross incompetence, or maybe groupthink. Engineers seemed to try and raise concerns, but there aren't any memos out there like the "Pinto Memo" that implicates upper-management.

------------

Another point, is that the Memo, as used by the prosecution of the case, was considered inadmissible evidence by the Judge. This leads me to believe that perhaps the memo was a grossly exaggerated story, or perhaps misrepresented in some way.