Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, December 6, 1994                   TAG: 9412060080
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

VICTIMS ASSAIL GM SETTLEMENT

``To get out, even on the passenger side, I had to go through the fire,'' Worden, of Puyallup, Wash., recalled Monday. ``If it hadn't been for the fire, I would have just been exchanging accident information with that other driver.''

Instead, Worden was burned over 55 percent of his body and spent painful weeks getting skin grafts. His 57-year-old face and hands still bear the scars of his burns from the 1992 accident that he says changed his life.

Worden settled a lawsuit against General Motors in June. However, he said he was on Capitol Hill at a news conference Monday with other GM C-K truck owners and their families out of concern that what happened to him could happen to somebody else.

Worden and other witnesses were preparing for a public hearing on whether the trucks presented a fire hazard and should be recalled, when Transportation Secretary Federico Pena announced Friday that the government would drop the case. In return, GM will spend $51 million on auto safety and research programs.

``I'm not surprised GM didn't want to see my burned face,'' Worden said.

Pena said if the Department of Transportation fought GM in court it could have taken years to resolve, while the millions GM is to spend on auto safety programs would ``save lives immediately.''

``I'm not only angry, I'm outraged,'' said B.J. Kincaide, who heads the Victims' Committee to Recall GM Pickups. ``The idea - he [Pena] could turn us over for $51 million.''

At issue are GM's sidesaddle gas tanks on model years 1973 to 1987 - two 20-gallon tanks mounted on each side outside the truck's frame. Critics say the location of the tanks makes them more prone to ignite during a crash.