Already reeling from a massive recall for using deadly airbags, the automotive industry is facing another major safety issue with a lawsuit filed in the U.S. against 10 leading carmakers for keyless ignitions that allegedly concealed carbon monoxide poisoning and killed 13 people.
A Reuters report said a complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles claimed that drivers thought engines will shut off after the electronic key fobs are removed, but the cars still run an emit carbon monoxide.
The complaint said the gas can injury or may be fatal to people who inhale the odourless and colorless gas. The report explained that vehicles with keyless ignition may be started by pushing an on-off button when the car detectsthe electronic fob.
The defendants are BMW AG, Daimle AG, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford Motor Co, General Motors Co, Honda Motor Company, Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corp, Toyota Motor Corp and Volkswagen and some of their respective subsidiaries and brands.
Reuters noted that the lawsuit is the latest effort to take the automotive industry to task for vehicle safety. The report said the lawsuit alleged the car companies have been aware for a while about the dangers of keyless ignitions but deceived drivers about this.
CNN said in a separate report that the lawsuit claims there have been 13 deaths due to this and many more injuries. It noted that GM had recalled older Chevrolet Volts to install software to fix the same issue.
The report said many vehicles have a feature that alerts drivers when they leave the engine running, and that automakers have included a feature to turn off their cars automatically, but have not added this to older models.
Reuters noted that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received 27 complaints since 2009 over keyless ignitions. It added that unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning kills more than 400 people annually in the U.S. based data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
