Automakers are required to file quarterly reports with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which include the details of crashes where a claimant alleges a defect may be to blame. General Motors most recent filed report indicates 47 deaths and 614 injuries may be linked to vehicles it has recalled this year for ignition switch problems, according to Automotive News.
The report covers a three month period leading up to June 30, 2014, and includes crashes which date back as far as 2005, although four occurred after the ignition switch recall was announced in February. In total, GM reported 975 crashes resulting in 69 deaths and 1,101 injuries. Not all of these incidents are conclusively linked to a defect, whether it’s the ignition switch flaw or another issue, but may be suspected of being so.
GM hired compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg to administer a program which pays out people injured and the families of those killed in crashes linked to the faulty ignition switch. So far, Feinberg and his team have received claims for 202 deaths and 1,851 injuries and have approved 32 claims for deaths and 35 for injuries.
According to AN, the Chevrolet Cobalt, which was the most high profile model affected by the ignition switch recall, accounted for 289 of the 975 crashes GM reported, the equivalent of 30 percent. Additionally, 26 deaths and 302 injuries occurred in Cobalts, while seven deaths and 56 injuries happened in Saturn Ions and five deaths and 122 injuries happened Chevrolet HHRs, two other models also affected by the recall.
GM’s reported 975 crashes, 69 deaths and 1,101 injuries were more than all other automakers combined. The other automakers which reported more than 100 crashes in their reports were Ford, with 135 crashes and Toyota with 510 crashes and seven deaths.
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