General Motors has scored two victories in its series of bellwether trials surrounding defective ignition switches in past vehicles. The first trial was thrown out due to perjury, and the second, most recent trial was awarded to GM after a jury decided the ignition switch was not at fault for the plaintiff’s injuries.
However, this upcoming bellwether trial was to be much different, because the jury was not dealing with injuries, it was dealing with the loss of life.
Reuters reports the upcoming trial, where plaintiff Nadia Yingling sued GM over the death of her husband, has been settled outside of court. Both Yingling’s lawyers and GM’s confirmed the news, but did not offer reasoning behind the decision.
The suit argued James Yingling, who was behind the wheel of a 2006 Saturn Ion, was killed due to the faulty ignition switch. The ignition switch cut power to the engine, which disabled the braking system and airbag deployment system. Mr. Yingling lost control of the Saturn Ion and struck a ditch bank and concrete culvert, causing traumatic brain injury, leading to his death.
The trial was scheduled for May 2, 2016, but the settlement will move the bellwether schedule to the next trial in a series of six.
Comment
I expect more cases to go this way.
The real hook here is the air bag is non functional if the key is off. That is where GM has to work for a settlement.
As for the brakes and steering these items are Not render unusable.
First off the key does not go to lock so the steering is functional and at speed it may be a little heavier but not impossible to safely steer.
As for the brakes they use check valves that retain vacuum that keeps the power brakes for several steps on the pedal for a safe stop. Even after the loss of vacuum they still stop with a harder push on the brakes.
I think GM will weed out the non legit crashes or ones with extenuating circumstances and then settle in the ones with the non functioning air bags due to the key.
Note even in some cases where they could win they may settle just because a long protracted legal fight will be more costly than to settle. That is all many of the lawyers are wanting for an easy pay check.