Acting ethically in car manufacturing vital

I compliment Tim Higgins and Nick Summers on their excellent article on General Motors and its failure to address an ignition switch problem, first known in 2005, which is linked now to the deaths of 13 people.

Coincidentally, on the same day as this article was published, your motoring section gave coverage to my recently launched book Shenanigans — lifting the hood on General Motors.

In the book I wrote: “In 1965 the American writer and activist Ralph Nader published a book called Unsafe at Any Speed in which he claimed that many US cars were structurally flawed. One chapter related to issues on GM’s Chevrolet Corvair. Instead of addressing the problem GM attacked the accuser. They hired private detectives and tried to besmirch Nader’s reputation. Nader sued them for invasion of privacy and won. In the intervening 40 years it appears that GM still has not learned the lesson — fix the problem swiftly.”

GM, and I suggest many other multi nationals, has to realise that acting ethically is not for some days but for every day.

Arnold O’Byrne

Donnybrook

Dublin 4