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GM pleads guilty but no criminal charges for employees in ignition switch recall

mattTheOne writes:

No GM employees going to jail for failure to fix an engineering problem:

General Motors will pay $900 million to settle criminal charges related to its flawed ignition switch that has been tied to at least 124 deaths. Problems with the ignition switch could shut off the car while it was being driven, disabling the airbag, power steering and power brakes -- and putting drivers and passengers at risk. GM had already admitted that its employees were aware of the problem nearly a decade before it started to recall millions of the cars early last year. That delay is the basis behind the criminal charges.

Sounds like the FORD Pinto...

Volkswagen Busted for Cheating on Emission Benchmarks

Nox Night writes:

Is it time for a DriverGater movement? Cheating on gaming benchmarks has been the raison d'être of the GamerGater movement. All of the major graphics chip manufacturers have been caught cheating on performance benchmarks by including code in the driver to detect benchmark runs and take visual shortcuts that produce better numbers but worse quality.

Now Volkswagen has been caught using the same tactics - to detect when their vehicles are being benchmarked for emissions and to release less nitrogen oxide pollution but operate less efficiently, giving false results.

The recall covers roughly 482,000 diesel passenger cars sold in the United States since 2009. Affected diesel models include the 2009-15 Volkswagen Jetta, 2009-15 Beetle, 2009-15 Golf, 2014-15 Passat and 2009-15 Audi A3.

Friday's notice of violation was the Obama administration's "opening salvo" in the Volkswagen case, said Thomas Reynolds, an E.P.A. spokesman. The Justice Department's investigation could ultimately result in fines or penalties for the company. Under the terms of the Clean Air Act, the Justice Department could impose fines of as much as $37,500 for each recalled vehicle, for a possible total penalty of as much as $18 billion.

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