Geier Vs Honda Case Study

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The Geier versus Honda was a case that tried to have Honda be responsible for injuries sustained in one of their vehicles by not having air bags installed into the vehicle that was involved in a traffic accident. During this time period air bags were a part of technology, yet were only being installed in luxury vehicles. It was not mandated by either the EPA or state regulations that air bags needed to be installed in every vehicle during this time period. Honda used preemption as their defense which meant that Honda used preemption as their defense, which meant that Honda used the Federal Motor Vehicle Standards aka: FMVSS as the protocol for not having the obligation to install airbags on the vehicles they were producing at the time on or …show more content…

The reason California did this was to strictly regulate greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. The EPA struck this bill down, yet California is still trying to enforce the carbon dioxide to lessen air pollutants. In California each vehicle after a certain year must pass a smog emission test. If the vehicle does not pass the test it must undergo a certain amount in dollars of repairs to correct the problem. In many cases the vehicle did not pass because of a faulty catalytic converter, or an ill tuned up vehicle.
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Many California residents were quite upset about these standards, yet California went on to enforce the law. (George, P., n.d.) Every state has the option to either go with the federal EPA regulations or the states may create their very own regulations. Most states stick with the federal regulations, yet there are a few states such as California that have quite a population, and there are great issues with air pollutants, and that is why some states decide to go with their own regulations regarding emissions. The only thing a state needs to remember when making their own emission standards is that their standards cannot be any less than that of the federal regulations. (Racingbeat.com, 2009)
References:
Answers.com, (n.d.), State laws when two are in conflict, Retrieved