uTakata Nixes Idea Of Airbag Victim Compensation Fund, For Nowr

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• Last month, in his first public address of the massive airbag defect linked to eight deaths and more than a hundred injuries, Takata CEO Shigehisa Takada announced the Japanese auto parts maker would consider the possibility of creating a victim compensation fund. Now, the company says such a fund is a no-go.

  The New York Times reports that Takata sent a letter to Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal – who urged executives of the company to start a compensation fund – revealing it has no current plans to offer recompense to victims of the safety devices that have been found to spew pieces of shrapnel with enough force to injure or kill occupants.

  “Takata believes that a national compensation fund is not currently required,” Kevin Kennedy, an executive vice president with Takata, wrote in the letter to Blumenthal.

  Kennedy says the company made the decision to nix a compensation fund at this time because there have been a limited number of claims filed and consolidated litigation in Florida already provides “efficient coordination” of claims.

  Kennedy goes on to say the company would continue to study its options and would let the senator know if it changes its mind on creating a fund.

  A spokesperson for Takata tells the NYT that the company has “settled a number of injury claims and will continue to do so based on the facts and circumstances of individual cases.”

  Blumenthal says he was disappointed by Takata’s decision on Thursday.

  “Takata seems unwilling to acknowledge its responsibility to help the victims and loved ones of victims that have suffered as a result of its lapses and gaps in performance,” Blumenthal tells the NYT.

  The idea of a Takata victim compensation fund began floating around following a congressional hearing in June where Blumenthal called on the company to establish a program.

  At that time, Kennedy said he couldn’t commit to creating the fund. But two weeks later, CEO Takada broke his relative silence on the massive airbag defect by saying the creation of a fund was just one of several options the company was looking at to compensate victims.

  While Takada didn’t provide details of what a potential fund may have looked like, many thought it would likely be modeled after a similar program currently used by General Motors to provide compensation for victims of its massive ignition switch recall.

  So far, that fund has approved claims for 117 deaths and 237 injuries. The company estimated at the time the fund was set up in August 2014 that it could spend between $400-$600 million compensating victims.

  In his letter to Blumenthal, Kennedy brushed off comparisons to GM’s recall woes, referencing how that fund compensated victims who may have been unable to sue GM outright because that company’s 2009 bankruptcy restructuring protects it from certain types of lawsuits related to pre-bankruptcy GM.

  Recalls of vehicles with Takata-produced airbags began slowly in 2008, but gained traction over the last year, culminating in the recall of 33.8 million vehicles in May.

  The company and a plethora of investigators from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as well as the 10 automakers affected by the recall have yet to identify what causes Takata’s airbags to rupture so violently. Because of this, it’s unclear whether or not vehicles already repaired are actually safe.

  In fact, company also plans to re-recall about 400,000 vehicles that have already been repaired.

  Takata announced it would change its use of the often volatile chemical ammonium nitrate in its safety devices and replace its batwing driver inflators.

  Takata Says No to Fund for Victims of Defective Airbag [The New York Times]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uBrain-Eating Amoeba Found In Fresh Water Claims A Victim In Minnesotar

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  (Firehouse Designs)

  Summer is here again, with its promises of cool, refreshing water holes and having fun in the sun swimming. But before you take a dip in freshwater lakes and ponds, take heed: The brain-eating amoeba often found in such bodies of water has claimed another victim, and this time, it struck much farther north than where it’s usually found.

  A 14-year-old Minnesota boy was taken off life support Thursday, passing away only 48 hours after he went swimming in a lake, reports the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the third confirmed death in the state involving the Naegleria fowleri amoeba since 2010. He was hospitalized on Tuesday with primary amebic meningoencephalitis.

  We’ve reported on cases involving the Naegleria fowleri amoeba before, but for those not in the know: It’s a rare but very deadly occurrence, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The amoeba enters the body through the nose and makes its way to the brain to feed, and is usually the result of swimming in bodies of warm freshwater — often found in southern states — though it can exist in fresh waters in the north as well.

  Symptoms like headache, fever, nausea, vomiting and a stiff neck can show up anywhere between one and seven days after the infection occurs, says the CDC.

  “Later symptoms include confusion, lack of attention to people and surroundings, loss of balance, seizures and hallucinations,” the CDC notes. “After the start of symptoms, the disease progresses rapidly and usually causes death within one to 12 days.”

  It can’t get into your brain by drinking it, just by sniffing fresh water directly into your nose. It’s also almost always deadly — providing a great reason to wear nose plugs while swimming in fresh water, or to keep your head above water, health officials say.

  Previously: Louisiana Parish Warns Residents After Brain-Eating Amoeba Found In The Water Supply

  Minnesota 14-year-old dies from rare infection after swimming in lake [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uWalmart Manager Accused Of Conspiring In $78,000 Robberyr

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  (Patrick)

  In the past, Consumerist has reported on several employees who could certainly take the title of worst employee at Walmart: the man arrested for stealing cash from a customer and food from the company’s deli, the woman who allegedly stole $10,000 in cash and gift cards while working as a cashier, or the long-time employee who stole $250,000 over several years. Today, we add another candidate to the list: an Oklahoma store manager who allegedly conspired to help another man steal $78,000 from the store.

  Oklahoma persecutors claim that the 43-year-old Walmart manager and his 21-year-old stepdaughter allegedly conspired with other family members to pull off the heist that took place last weekend, NewsOK reports.

  The robbery, which took place on the Fourth of July, occurred when an unidentified man entered the Oklahoma Walmart dressed like a Loomis armored transport employee.

  Authorities say the man went to the cash office, signed for the money and walked out of the store.

  Employees realized something was amiss when the real Loomis employee arrived about 45 minutes for the scheduled pick-up time.

  Investigators say the man who posed as the armored transport employee was possibly a relative of the manager. That man has yet to be identified and is still at large, NewsOK reports.

  The manager’s stepdaughter reportedly told investigators this week that she was paid $900 to drive the getaway vehicle, while the man’s wife said the clothing the robber wore during the heist was burned in their backyard grill.

  The two alleged conspirators were arrested on suspicion of felony grand larceny Thursday and are currently being held on $75,000 cash-only bonds.

  Walmart tells NewsOK that the manager has been suspended without pay while a criminal investigation and internal review are conducted.

  Investigator: Oklahoma Wal-Mart manager helped steal $75,000 [NewsOK]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

u20% Of Young Adults Are Using Someone Else’s Netflix, HBO Go Passwordsr

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• Are you piggybacking on the Netflix, HBO Go, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc, account of a friend or family member? A new report claims that you’re part of the 6% of U.S. households that are costing these companies $500 million in revenue this year.

  This is according to a new report from Parks Associates, which found that 1-in-5 young adults in the U.S. are using someone else’s account to watch a streaming (or over-the-top [OTT]) video service.

  That number drops significantly to 10% for the next age group (25-34), and declines even further after that, though there is a slight bump in the 55-64 age group, implying that some older parents are using their young adult offsprings’ accounts to watch Orange Is the New Black and Transparent.

  Parks claims that this credential sharing leads to a $500 million loss of direct revenue to the industry.

  “Credential sharing has a measurable impact on video services, particularly in the OTT video service area, where young subscribers are active,” explains Glenn Hower of Parks Associates. “The impact on OTT video revenues is especially troublesome as OTT providers are investing large sums of money to boost their original content offerings.”

  Certain OTT services, like Hulu and Sling, make it more difficult to share passwords by limiting streaming access to a single device at any given time. The typical Netflix account allows for simultaneous streaming on two screens; customers can upgrade their account to increase that to four screens. Netflix also lets users create different profiles so that multiple users can have their own queues and recommendations.

  “While credential sharing predominantly impacts OTT service revenues, the process will affect pay-TV operators in a similar fashion as they develop and deploy their own OTT and TV Everywhere offerings,” Hower says. “The motivation for credential sharing is primarily economic, and a move to consolidate video service subscriptions among family and friends stands to impact digital video services of all types in the near future.”

  [via FierceCable.com]

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uTom Selleck, Agency Reach Tentative Settlement In Water Theft Lawsuitr

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  (Kat the Northern Lights Man)

  The world was shocked, simply shocked to hear this week that actor Tom Selleck was embroiled in a water hullabaloo out in California. After the Calleguas Municipal Water District filed a lawsuit accusing the Magnum P.I. star and his wife of stealing water by the truckload from a fire hydrant, the two sides have reportedly reached a tentative settlement.

  An attorney for Calleguas told NBC News on Thursday that Selleck and the agency had come to some sort of detente for the time being, though the terms will remain confidential until a final agreement is reached.

  The general counsel for the water district said Selleck had hired a third-party company, which then broke Metropolitan Water District rules by taking water from a hydrant in the Calleguas district to water the actor’s ranch in another district.

  Law enforcement officials said earlier this week that the Three Men and A Baby actor hadn’t committed a crime, NBC News adds.

  California is particularly thirsty right now as it’s currently in the fourth year of a historic drought, which made the news land with an extra splash. Well, it would’ve if there were any extra pools of water around.

  But the Calleguas’ district manager of resources said the suit wasn’t supposed to turn Selleck into an example of “drought shaming,” as the district was just trying to safeguard its water supply for its users.

  Tom Selleck Reaches Tentative Deal in Water Theft Lawsuit, Agency Says [NBC News]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uLegislation Would Allow Some Rental Car Companies To Rent Vehicles Under Recall If They Give Noticer

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  (Phil’s 1stPix)

  In 2014, auto manufacturers recalled nearly 60 million vehicles, including millions that are handed from one customer to another by rental companies. While the major rental car companies promised back in 2012 that they would stop renting and leasing recalled vehicles, new legislation would allow some to send potentially dangerous cars back on the road.

  Bloomberg reports that the bill, unveiled by South Dakota Senator John Thune at the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee panel, would allow rental car companies to rent recalled vehicles that haven’t been repaired as long as they simply disclose the defects – and their decision not to fix them – in writing to the renter before hitting the road.

  Commerce Committee spokesperson Frederick Hill tells Bloomberg that the new legislation would not preempt stronger state laws, meaning the bill won’t necessarily roll back any current consumer protections.

  Several states have previously prohibited rental car companies from renting recalled vehicles to consumers, and those protections would stay in place, Hill says.

  “This provision would establish a new pro-consumer requirement that the recall status of a vehicle must be disclosed before renting,” Hill said.

  Still, Hill’s reassurance didn’t exactly give consumer advocates confidence in the bill, The Associated Press reports.

  “Whether you’re visiting Disneyland, New York City or Mount Rushmore, or just need a safer car while your own recalled car is being repaired, you shouldn’t have to worry that it’s perfectly legal, under federal law, for a rental car company to hand you the keys to a ticking time-bomb car,” Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, said.

  Groups such as Consumers for Auto Reliability have long pushed Congress to pass laws that would require all rental car companies to stop allowing potentially dangerous vehicles on the road.

  The most recent bill to do so, the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act, failed to pass muster and died during the 2013 legislative session.

  Measure to permit more rental cars under recall draws fire [Bloomberg]
  Critics Say Senate Bill Would Weaken Rental Car, Rail Safety [The Associated Press]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uThis Glorious ’80s Time Capsule House Is Real, In Living Primary Colorsr

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• In the suburbs of Buffalo, New York, there is a house that until recently was for sale. From the front and from the back, the exterior looks like any ordinary upscale house built in the late ’80s. Inside, however, it looks like the sets from “Saved by the Bell” collided with sets from “The Golden Girls,” then somehow became attached to a mall food court from 1988. Then nothing ever changed.

  Here’s a preview of the house’s real estate slideshow: we really recommend scrolling through the entire thing to understand what makes the home so special. Despite what the Realtor.com listing says, the house has been sold. Presumably, that includes the beautiful pillars highlighted with neon lights.

  

  

  

  Why does the house look like this? Has it sat untouched since it was last sold in 1993? Did they simply re-use the photos taken for that listing in 1993? “This is elaborate cosplay of the ’80s sitcom Silver Spoons,” one of my friends suggested when I shared the listing on Facebook. Maybe. Others speculated that it was a film set, or intentionally redecorated that way for sale.

  We checked with the realtor, who told us that the house was not staged or used as a film set. The décor was put there by the real people who really lived there. If the geometric wall sculptures or those amazing kitchen chairs interest you, they will be selling the art and furniture in a house sale later this summer.

  However, we aren’t real estate agents or home decorators: we’re children of the ’80s and ’90s. We kept picturing our favorite television characters from the era in every room of the house. There was only one way we knew to show our appreciation for this house.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Original Listing [Realtor.com]

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist