GM Ignition Switch Death Count Likely at Least 74
General Motors has officially linked 13 fatalities to its faulty ignition switches, but a new report suggests that number is much higher.
The news agency came to this conclusion after searching the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, a national database that catalogs crash data from local law enforcement, for instances of single-car frontal collisions where the air bags didn’t deploy and the driver, front-seat passenger, or both died. Statistics for the Saturn Ion, Chevy Cobalt, Ford Focus, Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla were compared to try and identify a trend.
SEE ALSO: GM Fined $35 Million for Dawdling on Ignition Switch Recall
Both the GM cars registered the most fatal crashes per 100,000 cars sold, with the Ion leading the way at 5.9. The Cobalt registered 4.1 fatal crashes per 100,000 cars sold, while the Focus had 2.9, the Civic sits at 1.6 and finally the Corolla at 1.0.
Trouble is, the crashes can’t specifically be linked to the ignition switch because crash reports don’t include that data. Acting NHTSA administrator David Strickland said previously that “the final death toll associated with this safety defect is not known to NHTSA, but we believe it’s likely that more than 13 lives were lost.”
[Source: Reuters]
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Stephen covers all of the day-to-day events of the industry as the News Editor at AutoGuide, along with being the AG truck expert. His truck knowledge comes from working long days on the woodlot with pickups and driving straight trucks professionally. When not at his desk, Steve can be found playing his bass or riding his snowmobile or Sea-Doo. Find Stephen on <A title="@Selmer07 on Twitter" href="http://www.twitter.com/selmer07">Twitter</A> and <A title="Stephen on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/117833131531784822251?rel=author">Google+</A>
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