MORNING-06
bags.>
worldwide over defective Takata air bag inflators. It brings the total
number of vehicles recalled to more than twenty-three million. A California
woman died last month because of the faulty inflators.>
NORAH O`DONNELL: Toyota faces more fallout this morning from potentially deadly air bags. The automaker has recalled nearly six million more vehicles worldwide over defective Takata air bag inflators. It brings the total number of vehicles recalled to more than twenty-three million. A California woman died last month because of the faulty inflators. She is one of at least eleven victims in the United States. Anna Werner shows us how one dealership owner is taking an unusual step, he says, to try to save lives. Anna, good morning.
ANNA WERNER (CBS News Correspondent): Good morning. Used car dealers can sell vehicles with open safety recalls legally, even though many consumers may be unaware of the cars` dangers. Toyota dealer Earl Stewart saw one of our earlier reports and decided to take matters into his own hands. He`s now suing another dealer. He says it`s all part of his attempts to get sales of cars with dangerous recalls stopped.
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ANNA WERNER: We first interviewed Toyota dealer Earl Stewart back in June, when his dealership still sold vehicles clearly marked with recalled Takata air bags.
Is this how you mark them, Takata recall?
EARL STEWART: Yes. We put that on the ones we have.
ANNA WERNER: But a question we put to him later that same day made him reconsider.
How are you going to feel if one does explode in a car that somebody bought here from you, even with disclosure, and they are severely injured or killed?
EARL STEWART: How would I feel? I would feel absolutely terrible.
ANNA WERNER: Soon after our visit, he decided to stop selling cars with those recalled air bags entirely.
EARL STEWART: I didn`t even realize, at the time, I guess I didn`t realize the impact until your interview. And it was just a kind of an awakening for me. I said, you`re right, I can`t-- you know, I can`t deal with that.
ANNA WERNER: But Stewart says just one dealer stopping sales doesn`t protect consumers. So he`s now going after his competitors, suing one of them, Arrigo Enterprises, under Florida`s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, alleging that dealership isn`t telling buyers about the recall and even that it`s misrepresenting the cars` Takata recall status.
So, another dealer in your market might say, here`s Earl Stewart, he used to sell these cars too. And now he`s decided not to, and he`s going to turn around and sue us for doing what he used to do himself?
EARL STEWART: Exactly, exactly. That`s what they`re going to say. And all I`m saying is, I wasn`t right before, but when I realized the impact and the danger of what I was doing, I took action.
ANNA WERNER: Our CBS THIS MORNING investigation earlier this year found sales of used cars with safety recalls are widespread. And our undercover shoppers in many cases were either not told about recalls, or given wrong information.
MAN: Any recalls anything pertaining to this vehicle got done.
ANNA WERNER: Those sales are legal, but Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut says they shouldn`t be.
You watched our investigation. Were you surprised to hear what the sales people at the dealerships told us?
SENATOR RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: I was astonished and appalled by the kind of deception and really blatant kind of misleading pitches made.
ANNA WERNER: And to you it was clearly deceptive, not just misunderstood or a lack of knowledge?
SENATOR RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: Anybody knowing that car was under recall and making that kind of pitch has to be held accountable.
ANNA WERNER: Blumenthal has proposed legislation, but faces opposition from dealer groups. The National Automobile Dealers Association told CBS News in a statement the proposed law would lower consumers` trade-in values and would not move us any closer to getting one hundred percent of recalled cars repaired. Stewart expects his lawsuit will make him a pariah among his fellow dealers, but says--
EARL STEWART: I mean, it`s so black and white in my mind. I just can`t understand why everybody doesn`t get it. How can you allow someone to sell a product that can kill or injure you?
(End VT)
ANNA WERNER: The owner of Arrigo Enterprises told us he was not violating the law by selling vehicles with open recalls, but told us he had not reviewed the lawsuit yet and did not give further comment until he has seen it. Now, Stewart is seeking damages as part of his lawsuit for loss of business, but says it`s hard to determine exactly how much he has lost because he has also gained customers by taking a stand on these issues.
GAYLE KING: Right.
ANNA WERNER: So he`s not exactly sure but he says his primary reason for suing is not the money anyway. It`s-- it`s to get the sales of the cars stopped.
GAYLE KING: You know, Maya Angelou use to always say, when you know better, you do better. But it`s interesting that he`s suing for something that he used to do.
ANNA WERNER: Right. Which is the point that we raised to him.
GAYLE KING: Yeah.
ANNA WERNER: And he says, yes and once I realized how wrong it was, I knew I had to face it.
NORAH O`DONNELL: Yeah. Don`t you applaud him for--
GAYLE KING: Yeah, very much so.
NORAH O`DONNELL: Yeah.
GAYLE KING: Very much so.
NORAH O`DONNELL: Yeah.
GAYLE KING: Very much so.
NORAH O`DONNELL: Really interesting.
GAYLE KING: It`d be interesting to see how it turns out.
ANNA WERNER: Yes.
GAYLE KING: Thank you, Anna.
Breakfast took a wild turn at a restaurant. Ahead, what happened-- can you imagine as you`re sitting there eating your eggs and then a deer dashes through the dining room in Indiana? What do you do?
But first, it`s seven forty-seven--
NORAH O`DONNELL: You make deer turkey.
GAYLE KING: --it`s time to check your local weather.
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GAYLE KING: Video shows a commotion during breakfast when a deer charged through an Indiana restaurant. The animal knocked down the tables and sent the chairs flying on Monday. Where is the deer? One woman almost collided with the deer. There is it.
NORAH O`DONNELL: Oh, my, oh, my.
GAYLE KING: It jumped and hit a counter. The deer then got up and ran through the dining room and jumped out the window. The cameras captured the startled reaction of the customers.
You know what? Guys, I think the deer was startled, too. Thinking, how did I end up here? I`m just trying to get home.
CHARLIE ROSE: And clearly it didn`t see anything. It wanted to eat.
GAYLE KING: Right. The deer was scared too.
NORAH O`DONNELL: Oh, my, oh, my.
All right. Here`s a transition. Good workplace wellness programs be used against you? Ahead, how confidential medical information you give to employers might backfire.
You`re watching CBS THIS MORNING.
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