US Jury Says Defective GM Ignition Switch Didn't Cause Crash in Latest Lawsuit
The second lawsuit over GM’s faulty ignition switch has concluded, with a U.S. jury saying that the switch is defective, though it did not cause this specific crash.
The two week trial looked at a crash involving a 2007 Saturn Sky in New Orleans that occurred on a rare icy day in 2014. The complainants claimed that bad ignition switch caused the accident, while GM contested that it was the icy conditions.
“The jurors studied the merits of the case and saw the truth: This was a very minor accident that had absolutely nothing to do with the car’s ignition switch,” GM said in a statement. The jury sided with GM and the complainants were issued none of the damages they were seeking.
While the verdict was in GM’s favor, the jury agreed that the Saturn Sky was “unreasonable dangerous” and did not meet GM’s quality standards.
SEE ALSO: GM Ignition Switch Compensation Totals $594M
Despite losing this case, Randall Jackson, the lead lawyer for the plaintiff in this case was happy the jury “agreed that we proved that our client’s vehicle was defective, that it was unreasonably dangerous, and that GM failed to use reasonable care to provide an adequate warning of that danger to consumers, including our clients.”
This finding will prove to be important moving into the future, as this is a bellwether case, the findings from which will be used to judge upcoming ignition switch lawsuits.
The first ignition switch lawsuit was thrown out of court after claims against GM by the complainants were found to be fraudulent.
[Source: Automotive News]
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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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Good. It's not always the big, bad corporation's fault when something unfortunate happens.
so the car is not controllable on ice and you have trouble stopping ...... who woulda thunk?