Vicki Denton died several years ago after the airbag in her 1998 Dodge Caravan minivan failed to deploy during a head-on collision in the Georgia mountains. In 2009, a jury found Chrysler responsible for her death because of a manufacturing defect, awarding her surviving son and other relatives $2.2 million.
The family was near collecting those damages on the eve of Chrysler's government-brokered bankruptcy. Now, two years removed from a $12.5 billion bailout, Chrysler Group LLC still hasn't paid the damages, and doesn't have to.
The reason: The company's restructuring allowed it to wash away legal responsibility for car-accident victims ...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704889404576277200705491950.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_editorsPicks_1Both GM and Chrysler have walked away from tens of millions of dollars in personal injury settlements under terms of the government bailout. The bailout saved the corporations not anyone else.