Monday, January 17, 2011

Automobile Manufacturer Accountability

Why is there not a higher degree of accountability for automobile producers?  Sure they go through stringent safety testings, and automobiles have many laws regarding their use, but that is more a result of governmental action.  Automobiles cause great destruction as their users often do do not drive properly.    People that veer off our roads due to distracted driving strike bridges, guard rails, lamp poles, fences, homes, other vehicles, animals, pedestrians, and cyclists.  Each of these collisions need to be repaired, and each of those repairs cost money.  However this responsibility is waived off onto the user in the form of insurance.  When a car passes its safety criteria, rolls off the manufacturing line and someone inks a contract with their John Hancock, why does it seems that GM or Ford or any other Automobile producer is suddenly off the hook.

Cigarette packs are required to have doctors warning labels advising any potential patrons of the risks of using its product.  Why do automobile producers not have to apply labels to the side of their vehicles, according to Stats Canada 44,192 deaths were a result of vehicles between 2000 and 2004. That's an average of 11,000 vehicle related deaths a year in Canada.  Yet automobile producers are still allowed to constantly plaster your Internet, television, billboards, newspapers, radios with flashy adverts that make driving a car seem cool.  However not one single advertisement that I've noticed had to display the number of deaths caused by their products, not one!  Alcohol ads recently started issuing the statement to "Please Enjoy Responsibly".  How come a car ad does not have to list of the things that you shouldn't do while driving.  It just seems like backward logic with groups like MADD,  that tend to blame the fact the drinking and driving causes so many deaths annually.  However the fact is that those individuals were driving while drunk, as in driving a 2000 pound vehicle. 

Why do automobile manufacturers have such a free reign over our society, yet have little responsibility for the maintenance when their products cause damage.

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