XPost: sac.politics, alt.survival, alt.autos.gm   
   XPost: alt.politics.obama   
   From: union-crimes@barackobama.com   
      
   A Colorado woman who was trapped inside her car for six days   
   after losing control and rolling 300 feet (90 meters) down a   
   mountainside is suing General Motors, saying her 2009 Chevy   
   Malibu's safety features failed, court records showed on   
   Wednesday.   
      
   Kristin Hopkins, 45, who had both of her lower legs amputated   
   following the April 2014 crash, alleges in the federal lawsuit   
   filed on Tuesday that the automaker knew before her wreck that   
   the Malibu's "crash avoidance" system was defective.   
      
   According to the negligence lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court   
   in Denver, motorists in Colorado must traverse winding mountain   
   roads, often in inclement weather, and the system designed to   
   slow a car down when it senses a loss of traction failed Hopkins   
   without warning.   
      
   "Given these unavoidable driving conditions, and with guardrails   
   rarely present, Colorado drivers must rely on these paramount   
   crash avoidance features for their very survival," the lawsuit   
   said.   
      
   GM said in a statement that the company "is learning details of   
   this tragic accident."   
      
   "We will investigate this matter and work to understand what   
   happened and why," the statement said.   
      
   Police said she lost control of her car on a curve near Red Hill   
   Pass, about 65 miles (105 km) southwest of Denver, and the   
   vehicle rolled several times down a steep embankment before   
   coming to rest upside down in a grove of Aspen trees.   
      
   Bleeding and suffering from multiple injuries, the single mother   
   of four spent six days inside the overturned vehicle in freezing   
   temperatures, scrawling distress messages on an umbrella that   
   she deployed outside the wrecked car.   
      
   A group of passing motorists ultimately spotted the crash site   
   and reported to authorities that they had found a body inside   
   the car.   
      
   When rescuers arrived on scene, they found Hopkins alive,   
   suffering from multiple injuries and hypothermia.   
      
   She underwent numerous surgeries and medical procedures but   
   doctors could not save her legs, which were amputated below the   
   knees.   
      
   While she was learning to walk on prosthetic limbs at a Denver-   
   area rehabilitation center, the lawsuit alleges that GM sent   
   Hopkins a recall notice telling her the car's safety system was   
   defective.   
      
   "This piece of mail cruelly notified her that she should take   
   her Malibu in for repairs as its safety systems may not work if   
   she finds herself in a crash avoidance situation," the lawsuit   
   said.   
      
   http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/21/us-colorado-lawsuit-   
   idUSKCN0SF2WO20151021http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/21   
   /us-colorado-lawsuit-idUSKCN0SF2WO20151021   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)