Go to Arts & Leisure Headlines

Chevy Volt: "Old Sparky"

DETROIT -- In the wake of spring flooding in the United States and the recent Japanese tsunami, General Motors is facing a mounting public relations disaster with their recently introduced flagship "green" model, the Chevy "Volt."

While GM proclaims "the future is electrifying," some of even the most ardent environmentalist consumers are having second thoughts, as several electric car owners reportedly have been electrocuted after being caught in rising flood waters.

"We outlawed capital punishment, but now we have cruel and unusual punishment on the highways," said Sunshine Groenomhelzing, whose husband, Brock, was electrocuted when his 2011 Chevy Volt got caught in a flash flood in Gila Bend Gorge. "He wanted to save the planet and Republicans executed him for it."

Some have begun referring to electric cars as "Old Sparky," which is the nickname of the electric chairs in Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, New York, Texas, and Virginia.

The Chevrolet Volt is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle manufactured by the Chevrolet division of General Motors. The Volt has been on sale in the U.S. market since mid-December 2010. The all-electric Nissan Leaf was also introduced at the end of 2010. Toyota has sold nearly a million Prius hybrids in the United States.

"It's like throwing a toaster into the bath tub," said Attorney Steven Dallas, who is representing Groenomhelzing in her wrongful death suit against GM. "You'd have think somebody there might have figured out that water and electricity don't mix."

Spring flooding has already begun and the worst is yet to come, with the greatest danger in the Northeast and Midwest, government forecasters said Thursday.

"The stage is set for widespread, major flooding," National Weather Service Director Jack Hayes said. "The worst is still ahead."



©2011 MFTHPPPGT




www.mudcatfalls.com



Go to Arts & Leisure Headlines