More than a year after GM’s ignition switch recall burst into the spotlight the General is still feeling the effects. And in that time the total number of reported deaths related to the ignition switch has skyrocketed from a lowballed 13 (the official number) to 64. And counting, as cases continue to be reviewed.
As we know now it all started with Mark Hood, an engineer from Florida, and his discovery that the ignition switch he salvaged from Brooke Melton’s car was different from a new ignition with the exact same part number. Brooke died tragically in March 2010 behind the wheel of her Cobalt, on her 29th birthday.
Today, GM finally settled its second and final lawsuit with the family that brought the whole recall to light, according to Automotive News. The terms of the settlement have not been revealed.
One of the Melton’s lawyers, Lance Cooper, originally confronted switch-designer Ray DeGiorgio in April 2013 and five months later, as Cooper was preparing to depose more GM employees, the company agreed to a $5-million settlement.
Why the second lawsuit? After GM went public with the recall in February 2014 the Melton’s filed another lawsuit accusing GM of fraud when settling the first lawsuit and of “knowingly selling defective vehicles”.
Even with the Melton case now settled, again, GM is still facing thousands of potential claims in relation to the switches.
The Feinberg compensation fund has received “4,343 claims, including 478 deaths and 291 catastrophic injuries. Feinberg has deemed 64 death claims, 11 catastrophic injuries and 97 injuries as eligible for payments so far, with 1,571 claims still under review,” according to AN.
Comments
The fantasy world of gmauthority was until recently the last place where people still had the audacity to blame the drivers.
Posters here simply could not imagine a situation where the simultaneous ceasing of the engine, steering, brakes, and no airbags could be problem. Some things take longer to sink in on this website.
Magrius stop showing your foolishness.
You have to look at each and everyone of these cases as separate deals as in cases like this one with Brooke She was not drunk, on drugs and she did have a belt on. While GM may have been at fault for the accident in many cases the fact is the life and death aspect that resulted because of the accident were determined by the drivers actions and responsibilities.
Case in point Amber Rose. In this case the car was spending 3 times the speed limit into a dead end street with a driver 2 times the legal limit with no seat belt on. Her car went off the end of the road and hit a tree.
Now even if the air bag had worked there was little chance she would have survived the accident. Her while GM was at fault for no bag all the other factors were the personal responsibility of the driver. The out come of Ambers life and death were well in her hands so she shared responsibility here.
This is not a deal where we are going to remove the blame from GM but in the many and there were many cases where the drives actions contributed and or were responsible for their deaths they should also be held in account.
Also you need to get your facts straight. If the key goes off this is what happens.
#1 The engine stops
#2 The Air Bag will not activate as a supplement to the seat belt that must be uses in conjunction.
#3 The steering while not powered is still fully functional and will still steer the car to a safe stop. At speed most cars have little assist as power steering is variable due to speed.
#4 Power brakes will still retain full power for 2-3 stops as they hold a check valve that retains the vacuum that provides the assist. Also if the vacuum is used up the brake system even with out power will still bring a car to a full stop.
In most cases if a car is properly operated by someone in full control of their faculties the car will still operate to a full stop and should not lead to instant death as so many legal lobby groups want you to believe. There will be cases where the circumstances will lead to a deadly outcome and they should be taken into account.
Now like stated GM did have a issue with the ignition and should be held responsible for it in the cases where they were fully to blame and only partially in cases where the driver contributed to a deadly outcome.
That is what is wrong with the world anymore as we do need corporate responsibly but we should also hold individuals responsible for their own actions too. Too often we see people blame others for their own mistakes and in the end each and everyone of us pay for it in the prices we pay for products, goods and laws that really should not be needed if people did the right thing.
The fact is most companies do not fight this stuff anymore even if they were not to fully blame as the PR fall out is nothing more than blackmail by the legal lobbies.
Anyone wants to know the truth on this please read the new book What Did Jesus Drive. It covers the legal and PR aspects to the auto industry and explains how and why these deals happen. It is not a Jesus book no is it a GM book but it is very informative and could teach many on the truth that never comes out in the media.
While Cooperation’s make mistakes and or may do the wrong thing the lawyers are really also the ones who are taking advantage of this. Do not think for a second these lawsuits will do much for most of the families as while they get some money the lawyers will take 50%-80% of the settlement and the lost family member will still be gone. Also you will pay the money the lawyers get in higher car prices not only at GM but everyone else who figures legal fights into their pricing of cars.
Mangrius if you want to hate GM then hate all you like but stop the bull shit. You and people like you that fall for all of this are just another part of what is wrong with society and why people in general like cooperation’s and individuals do not take responsibility as they can get away with it.