Boston, MA 05/20/2014 (wallstreetpr) – The U.S. safety officials in the automobile industry on May 16, 2014, released a document on confidential training directive of General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), which is given to the engineers. The document was among various other documents released, but the interesting aspect of this particular manuscript was that it included 68 words which the company said, should be avoided by the engineers. GM had issued this directive in the year 2008, in which it instructed its engineers to put the words like “always,” “dangerous,” and “defect” at bay.
Whooping amount of fine imposed on GM
The U.S. safety officials slapped a whooping amount of $35 million fine on General Motors Company (NYSE:GM). The fine was imposed on the company for deliberately curtailing crucial safety warnings or features in recall of 2.6 million cars that had defective ignition switches. It is important to mention here that this defect claimed lives of 13 people and was also responsible for 32 crashes. GM, in the meanwhile, agreed to pay this fine as well as some other actions, as part of its consent-agreement with the Government.
A Few Words that GM Instructed Engineers to Avoid
Among the 68 words that the company instructed its engineers to avoid were “problem,” “safety,” “chaotic,” “death-trap,” “evil,” “widow-maker,” “terrifying,” “bad,” “never,” “always,” “dangerous,” “Corvair-like,” “Kevorkianesque,” “grisly,” “unbelievable engineering screw-up,” “rolling sarcophagus,” and “unsafe at any speed.”
GM’s Explanation on the Matter
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), in its explanation, said that the flowery language was not helpful in elimination of the problem. In trying to justify itself, the company explained that the language could always be misinterpreted by people outside the company and, therefore, the company instructed to avoid a few words or phrases.
Comment from the Acting Chief, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Acting Chief, David Friedman explained that this was a larger problem because the employees of the company were reluctant in sending the documents that contained words like “defect.” He also questioned the values of General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) and said that the employees were now encouraged that they discussed the safety features of the automobile with precision and reality.
