(VitalNews.org) – As Chicago continues to be gripped by lawlessness, street crime, and an ever-increasing out-migration of citizens, the city’s mayor has decided to sue car manufacturers for their alleged part in the criminality.
The mayor of Chicago is Brandon Johnson; he assumed the office after defeating in the primary the incumbent mayor Lori Lightfoot who was ousted due in part to high crime numbers. Johnson has shown numerous signs that crime was not likely to curtail under his mayor-ship. As ‘teen takeovers’ looting and vandalizing local businesses were rampant Johnson said he was concerned with the “language used to describe certain behavior,” and refused to call out their criminality.
The reason Johnson is suing KIA and Hyundai is their non-inclusion of certain anti-theft measures in car models from 2011 through 2022. The suit cites the administration’s belief that the lack of “industry-standard immobilizers” is in large part responsible for the “steep rise” in crime including and beyond auto theft. The car companies did not include these devices and corresponding software in base model vehicles as an effort to keep the price down. However, videos began to circulate online showing people how to break into and steal these vehicles. The mayor’s position is that criminals seeing these videos steal the cars and then many use the stolen cars to commit other crimes like reckless driving, armed robbery and even murder.
He says the less expensive vehicles were primarily bought by lower income residents and as such they are affected “disproportionately.” The mayor called the manufacturers non-inclusion of the devices “sheer negligence” which has had a direct effect on the crime “unfolding right before our eyes.” Hyundai issued a statement stating they are taking “comprehensive actions” to remedy the problem. They say dealer’s nationwide and installing anti-theft measures into customer vehicles. They said they report to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration weekly about the numbers of vehicles they service on a daily basis.
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