Chrysler's bankruptcy will leave lots of people empty-handed. Among them are accident claimants who seek compensation when a faulty Chrysler vehicle causes injury or death. Under terms approved on June 1 by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Arthur J. Gonzalez, the "new" Chrysler emerging from bankruptcy won't be liable for product defect claims involving any cars sold before it came into existence.
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Lawyers for the consumer and accident victim groups argued that cutting off all avenues of redress for injury victims violates the bankruptcy law and the U.S. Constitution. And the number of victims is large, they contend, citing federal statistics showing that 5,940 people were killed in crashes involving Chrysler vehicles in 2007. "Many thousands more" were injured, their court filing said. In a Mar. 5 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, GM said that based on historical experience, it had recorded liabilities of about $1 billion a year in 2007 and 2008 to cover product liability claims. (Similar data are not available for Chrysler, since it was a private company.)
"Most consumers have no idea that their rights and the rights of their family members have been eliminated should something happen as a result of a defect in one of these cars," says Joanne Doroshow, executive director of the Center for Justice & Democracy in New York.
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