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Chicago Injury Lawyer Scott Wolfman & Associates - Law Firm

A $9 Safety Improvement Could Have Saved the Anderson Family from Horrific Burns

"The court finds that clear and convincing evidence demonstrated that defendants' fuel tank was placed behind the axle on automobiles of the make and model here in order to maximize profits - to the disregard of public safety." -- Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ernest G Williams [Wall Street Journal, Sept. 29, 1999]

In 1993, while driving home from church services on Christmas Eve in her 1979 Chevy Malibu, Patricia Anderson and her four children, ages six to 15, were hit from behind. At the time they were approaching a red light and traveling at only 10 mph. The front of the car of the other driver was forced partially underneath the rear bumper and punctured the fuel tank in several places. The leaking fuel ignited and the car burst into flames.

Patricia and her children suffered severe burns while trapped in the car and required years of medical attention after the accident. Eight-year-old Kiontra was burned when, after escaping, she ran back to the car to rescue her younger sister.

Evidence shows that GM knew for more than twenty years before the accident that changing the placement of the fuel tank from under the floor to over the axle would make it less likely to puncture and reduce the risk of explosion. They could have prevented the Anderson’s terrifying experience and the pain they suffered.

Yet, in an example of Pinto math, an internal GM memo showed that the company estimated that deaths resulting from post-collision fuel-tank fires cost General Motors $2.40 per car. This calculation was based on an estimate that each life “has a value of $200,000.” Internal memos also showed that the company had developed an improved design that would do a better job of protecting the gas tank in collisions. Improving the design would cost the company $8.59 per car. Executives decided not to do so.

In 1999, a jury found that General Motors Corp., in an effort to cut costs, knowingly endangered the lives of their passengers and then ordered the company to pay compensations costs to Patricia and her children.

The timeline of the Malibu’s history shows GM’s disregard for passenger safety in favor of profits.

1966: In the original designing of the Malibu, GM violates its own corporate policy that required engineers to pay careful attention to eliminating or shielding the fuel tank from punctures.

1970: The government issues a new proposed standard concerning crash standards for automobiles. In response, GM directs that all future designs, starting with the 1973 models, have the over axle fuel tank design instead of the under floor design.

Yet, when GM realizes that this directive would cost more, they begin a campaign against the standards and look for ways to meet government standards while still keeping the fuel tank system in the unsafe location.

1973: A GM engineer writes an internal memo – later known as “The Ivey Memo” – that calculates the cost to GM of deaths resulting from post-collision fuel-tank fires. The engineer calculates that the cost to the company was $2.40 per car, based on the estimate that each life “has a value of $200,000.”

1977: GM’s own testing reveals the Malibu fuel tank leaks on rear impact, even in a 30mph rear-moving barrier test. This included the wagon models that leaked nearly 50 percent of the time. Yet, despite having this information GM continued with the under floor design.

1977: GM certifies to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration that the Malibu meets government standards and is ready for production. However, after that, the car failed or leaked fuel during twenty-one crash tests.

1978: Lloyd Aldrich, a GM fuel system engineer, recommends three areas where the fuel system could be improved and the leakage problems fixed.

1979: Malibu is put on the market with none of Aldrich's proposed fixes.

1981: The Ivey memo along with other GM documents are found for the first time in a brown-paper wrapper on engineering analyst Ronald Elwell's desk. Elwell becomes first person to testify he saw the memo in 1981, gave it to a lawyer for GM and also showed it to a fellow GM employee.

1983: In another unrelated case, (Swanic v. GM), GM is ordered to produce all cost-benefit studies, including the Ivey memo.

1993: The Anderson family is hit from behind while driving home from Christmas Eve services. Their car bursts into flames and mother and four children are severely burned.

1999: A jury finds that GM, in an effort to cut costs, knowingly endangered the lives of their passengers and ordered the company to pay compensation costs to the Anderson family.