IKEA RECALLS 27 MILLION DRAWERS – RESPONSIBLE FOR TWO DEATHS

Having worked at IKEA for 14 years, I know everything there is to know about their inner workings. This recall is the result of gross negligence on the part of IKEA. I was there in the early 1990’s when the first death in the U.S. occurred. A young child opened the bottom drawers of an IKEA chest and it fell on him. He suffocated to death. My boss Mike McDonald, the CFO, met with the parents and negotiated the large payout to the family. This was over 20 years ago. From that moment forward the company vowed to include a wall anchoring kit with every bookcase and drawer unit. It was a nylon strap with screws and washers so you could attach one end to the furniture and one end into a stud in the wall.

I bought many pieces of IKEA furniture over the years. I had small children. I anchored all of my bookcases and storage units to the wall with these anchors. There is nothing new about this. Why didn’t the Malm dresser already have these wall anchors included? There is no excuse, considering it has been a standard for 20 years. If they were not included in order to save money or cut corners, then the blood of these children are on the hands of IKEA executives in the U.S. and Sweden. IKEA will try to spin this tragedy, but it sounds like corporate irresponsibility to me.

Ikea recalls 27 million chests, dressers after two deaths

Jayne O’Donnell, USA TODAY

Ikea is recalling about 27 million chests and dressers because they can tip over and crush children if they aren’t anchored to the wall, the retailer and the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Wednesday.

Two children died after Ikea’s Malm chests fell on them in 2014. Ikea says it knows of reports of three additional deaths since 1989 from tip-overs involving other models of Ikea chests and dressers.

While Ikea’s new repair program is considered a recall, consumers aren’t supposed to return the furniture. Instead, they should order or pick up a new free wall anchoring kit for the affected chests and dressers. Consumers should move unanchored chests and dressers into storage or other areas where they cannot be accessed by children until the chests and dressers are properly anchored.

Patty Lobell, Ikea’s U.S. commercial manager, said in a statement that the company is “deeply saddened” by the deaths and hopes “our efforts prevent further tragedies.”

Furniture and TV tip-overs have been a top concern at CPSC for several years. A child dies every two weeks and one is injured every 24 minutes in the U.S. from furniture or TVs tipping over, according to CPSC data.

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HAS OBAMA’S GM BUILT ANY NON-DEFECTIVE CARS IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS?

The American taxpayer is surely thrilled that we saved this piece of shit excuse for a car company with our tax dollars. What would we do without them? Oh yeah. We would have bought Honda cars that actually worked. Who in their right mind would buy one of these defective pieces of crap from Government Motors? Oh yeah. The subprime deadbeats getting 7 year loans from Ally Financial. Remember Obama touting the GM success story as a feather in his cap? It’s almost as big an Obama success story as Solyndra. That boy sure can pick winners.

GM to recall additional 717,950 vehicles

By Anna Prior


Bloomberg Enlarge Image

General Motors Co. on Wednesday unveiled six recalls covering 717,950 vehicles in the U.S., citing a variety of safety issues.

Those safety concerns include loose bolts on power-height adjustable driver or front passenger seats in more than 400,000 model year 2011-2012 Chevrolet Camaros, 2010-2012 Chevrolet Equinoxs and GMC Terrains, among other vehicles, as well as potentially incomplete welding on certain seat hooks in more than 120,000 recent model Chevrolet Caprices, Silverado LD and HDs, Cadillac ATS and CTS, among other vehicles.

Other recalls include more than 120,000 model year 2011-2013 Buick Regals and 2013 model year Chevrolet Malibus to fix issues related to front turn signal light bulbs, more than 57,000 model year 2014 Chevrolet Impalas with belt-drive electric power steering, as well as nearly 2,000 recent model year Chevrolet Sparks imported from Korea that were assembled with a lower control arm bolt not fastened to specification.

GM (NYSE:GM)   has recalled more than 29 million cars throughout North America since the start of the year.

In late June, the auto maker announced six recalls covering 8.45 million vehicles in North America for a variety of issues, chief among them was unintended ignition key rotation in older Chevrolet Malibus and five other models.

OBAMA’S GM SUCCESS STORY – 303 DEATHS – MASSIVE COVER-UP

General Motors knew about the defective airbags in 2001 and did nothing until this week. Then they lie about the number of deaths caused by their corporate greed. The government did nothing. The Federal government and General Motors have the blood of 303 people on their hands. Will anyone go to jail? Not a chance. We live in a country run by corporate fascists. GM will pay a fine and all will be well. Politicians will receive political contributions from GM and their PACs. All will be well.

Read the real report here:

http://www.autosafety.org/sites/default/files/imce_staff_uploads/Friedman%20Letter%20March%2013%202014%20Full.pdf

 

GM Facing Allegations That 300 Deaths Were Caused By Failed Air Bags

March 13, 2014

By

GM – already facing criticism for delaying recalls due to defective ignition switches – is now facing accusations that 303 people died after the airbags in their cars failed to deploy following accidents.

“The review of the air bag failures, by the Friedman Research Corporation, adds to the mounting reports of problems that went unheeded before General Motors announced last month that it was recalling more than 1.6 million cars worldwide because of the defective switch. G.M. has linked 12 deaths to the defective switch in the two models analyzed, the 2003-5 Chevrolet Cobalts and 2003-7 Saturn Ions, as well as four other models,” the New York Times reported Thursday nights.

 ”General Motors criticized the use of the database, called the Fatality Analysis Reporting System.”

“As knowledgeable observers know, FARS tracks raw data,” Greg Martin, a G.M. spokesman, said. “Without rigorous analysis, it is pure speculation to attempt to draw any meaningful conclusions.”

Last month, General Motors said it would recall more than 1.6 million cars because of a defective ignition switch that, if jostled or weighed down by a heavy key ring, could turn off the car’s engine and electrical system, disabling the air bags.

 

145645 600 GM safety defects cartoons