A wrongful death lawsuit filed by Montgomery, Ala.-based Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis, and Miles names, “General Motors Co., Delphi Automotive, a Chevrolet dealership and New York repair shop that the firm says is tied to the automaker’s ignition switch defect,”reports the Detroit News. The suit alleges that the key in Daniel L. Hollaert Jr.’s Cobalt’s ignition switch moved to the car’s ‘accessory’ position, causing him to lose control of his car and ultimately leading to a head-on collision with a school bus that took the 23-year-old’s life
A spokeswoman for the law firm told the Detroit newspaper that, “while the police report does not indicate the ignition switch position, photos of the vehicle taken by law enforcement after the crash show the ignition in the ‘off’ position.” The photos, however, do confirm that the vehicle’s airbags did not deploy.
General Motors counts that only 13 deaths are related to faulty ignition switches in Chevrolet Cobalt and Saturn Ion compact cars, which may not be the way Ken Feinberg will see it. As the Detroit News writes, “Hollaert is believed not to have been one of [the 13 victims] based on when his accident occured.”
The company chose not to give comment to the Detroit News regarding this case. General Motors is preparing to compensate the victims of GM cars with faulty ignition switches using an open-ended compensation fund.
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