GM Ignition Switch Death Toll Hits 100

The GM ignition switch compensation fund has now approved 100 death claims.

The compensation fund, which was setup to refund those who were injured or killed in a GM car with a faulty ignition switch, also approved five new injury claims, bringing the total number to 184 approved injury claims. In those cars, the ignition switch can cause the engine to shut off unexpectedly, causing the power steering to cut out and the airbags to not deploy.

The compensation fund, which is run by lawyer Kennth Feinberg, awards money for situations “in which the recall condition may have caused or contributed to the non-deployment of the frontal air bags.” Officials also include pedestrians that may have been killed as a result of a faulty ignition switch.

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Initially, GM said that only 13 deaths were a result of the ignition switch defect. That estimate “was based on information available to the company at the time, and it was based on a thorough review by engineers of the facts and circumstances of each crash, including any available technical information recorded by the vehicle’s on-board computer,” according to GM.

The company has not publicly said how many deaths it believes are related to the condition. “In contrast, the Feinberg Facility is a settlement program. It is designed to settle claims, rather than make rigorous engineering or legal judgments about the definitive causes of accidents,” said GM spokesman Jim Cain . “If Feinberg elects to make a settlement offer to a claimant in a case involving a fatality, the fatality associated with that case is added to Feinberg’s count of fatalities (whether or not they accept a settlement offer). GM plays no role in Feinberg’s determinations or decisions to make settlement offers, and Feinberg is not required to explain his decisions to GM,” Cain said.

In total, 167 offers have been made and 113 have been accepted, five have been rejected and 81 have been paid to date.

[Source: Detroit News]

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