Baltimore sues Hyundai, Kia over spike in car thefts

Re:Baltimore sues Hyundai, Kia over spike in car thefts by sithadmin on Friday May 12, 2023 @09:55AM (#35916363)

Nothing in the article nor the parts that you extracted establishes exactly why a municipality would have standing to sue a product manufacturer for damages, or why a manufacturer is somehow obligated to include features that a municipality deems to be 'standard'.

The fact that there are consumer products whose absence of features creates a negative externality for local law enforcement doesn't seem like sufficient grounds for standing, and this sort of thing is hardly limited to auto antitheft features. Awarding a municipality damages or other relief here would set precedent opening the door to all sorts of whacky things. Should spraypaint manufacturers be held liable for graffiti? Should speaker manufacturers that sell devices without decibel-output-limiters be held liable for noise complaints? The sane answer here to all of this seems like 'no'.

The appropriate venue for dealing with this is federal auto safety regulations, not municipalities trolling manufacturers in civil court.

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Re:Baltimore sues Hyundai, Kia over spike in car thefts by harimau777 on Friday May 12, 2023 @10:25AM (#35916819)

How far does that line of reasoning go? Suppose that every car they sold used the same key. "We just said that the car has locks. We didn't say that those locks have unique keys."

Clearly there has to be some degree to which a customer can assume that a product they buy meets the standard functionality associated with that product.

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Re:Baltimore sues Hyundai, Kia over spike in car thefts by alexb_ on Friday May 12, 2023 @10:47AM (#35917102)

Then they still wouldn't be at fault. It's not their fault that the society Baltimore has crafted is so low trust that you can't leave your car outside for a second without it getting stolen.

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Re:Baltimore sues Hyundai, Kia over spike in car thefts by HDThoreaun on Friday May 12, 2023 @02:46PM (#35920459)

It's their fault they made a defective product though. When people buy a car the expectation is that you can't steal it in under 10 seconds with no tools.

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Re:Baltimore sues Hyundai, Kia over spike in car thefts by prottog on Friday May 12, 2023 @03:23PM (#35921005)

Like others said, in that case the customer who bought the product has standing to sue, not the city of Baltimore.

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Re:Baltimore sues Hyundai, Kia over spike in car thefts by Ekaros on Saturday May 13, 2023 @05:51AM (#35926962)

These cars are in full compliance of regulations. It is not manufactures fault that the country they sell cars in is so massively incompetent that they do not set proper standards.

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Re:Baltimore sues Hyundai, Kia over spike in car thefts by singron on Friday May 12, 2023 @10:57AM (#35917231)

The customer has clear cause. Fitness for purpose, warranty, etc. The municipality probably doesn't. If anything, they should try to coordinate a class action lawsuit among consumers.

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Re:Baltimore sues Hyundai, Kia over spike in car thefts by sithadmin on Friday May 12, 2023 @10:58AM (#35917248)

While that would definitely be a problem, that's the end-user's/customer's problem. It would be appropriate for a Hyundai/Kia buyer to sue Hyundai/Kia for damages experienced because of such a thing. It doesn't make sense for a municipality to sue here - they're not a party with a stake in the ostensibly defective product.

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Re:Baltimore sues Hyundai, Kia over spike in car thefts by alistairSH on Friday May 12, 2023 @03:24PM (#35921013)

But the city is expending resources (police, mostly) so there is damage.

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Re:Baltimore sues Hyundai, Kia over spike in car thefts by erichocean on Friday May 12, 2023 @04:35PM (#35921995)

Yes, and the city taxes its residents to pay for the police—the same residents who bought the cars requiring more police involvement.

It's a self-correcting problem, no lawsuit required.

The city could even have a special tax on "cars without immobilizers" that Kia owners paid, to cover their costs. Again: no lawsuit required.

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Re:Baltimore sues Hyundai, Kia over spike in car thefts by turkeysandwich on Friday May 12, 2023 @08:03PM (#35924032)

The city is expected to police all crime regardless. The car manufacturer might (or might not) have some duty to the customer in this area, but certainly not the city for contributing to a crime increase.

You might as well say that a company that produces an exceptionally desirable product, one that perhaps entices thieves, would be responsible for a crime increase.

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Re:Baltimore sues Hyundai, Kia over spike in car thefts by explorer83 on Friday May 12, 2023 @10:06AM (#35916545)

The city should run a public campaign to publicly advertise the consequences of stealing a vehicle (e.g./ jail, heavy fines, reduced job prospects, etc.). Make it clear criminals will be punished hard for stealing cars. Maybe they can ask the manufacturers and dealers to sponsor or donate to it.

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Re:Baltimore sues Hyundai, Kia over spike in car thefts by krisoft on Friday May 12, 2023 @11:06AM (#35917336)

Or the city can run a public campaign advertising these car models as prone to being stolen. That hurts the companies image, which puts pressure on them to get better. Of course it is cheaper if they don't have to buy ad-space for such an advertisement. Maybe they could use publicity around a lawsuit? Maybe that is what we are reading right now?

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