Oregon Jury Holds GM Accountable for Selling Dangerous Cars

"Those side-saddle gas tanks were faulty, and GM knew it. But they didnďż˝t want a jury to hear about it,ďż˝ ďż˝ Ann Kirkwood The story of Anne Kirkwood shows why the power of juries is critical to getting dangerous and defective products off the market. Read how her case forced a major corporation to fix a fatal design flaw. Read Anne Kirkwood's Story...

I hope my story will help show why it is so important to protect our rights to pursue justice through our civil jury system. I was involved in an accident that left me severely burned. Of course, some accidents just can’t be helped. But this wasn’t one of those cases.

For years, General Motors manufactured trucks with a dangerous design flaw: side-saddle gas tanks that were likely to explode on impact.

This wasn’t a matter of making an honest mistake: we found memos that clearly showed G.M. knew that the design was dangerous. They just didn’t think that the extra deaths and injuries they caused were worth the price of fixing the problem. The only thing that changed the situation was the fact that an Oregon jury could ultimately hold the wrongdoers accountable. That was important to me, to help pay for tremendous medical bills, and to help repair some of the damage done to our family. We can’t leave those kinds of decisions to politicians.

But more important was the power of juries to hold negligent corporations fully accountable.

There have been repeated efforts to take that power away from juries and give it to politicians in the legislature. And insurance companies are always trying to get people to sign waivers that take away their rights. I can understand why corporations like G.M. would want that to happen. But it would be terrible for people. We hope and pray that your family will never have to cope with a tragedy like ours. But should you become the victim of wrongdoing, you will want to have the right to seek full justice from a jury. Don’t ever give that right away.