At least one product liability attorney has reported a client that had one of the recalled cars shut down with only one key in the switch.
General Motors ignition switch program has now ruled that 49 deaths, seven severe injuries and 65 other injuries are eligible for settlement offers. GM received 108 claims for compensation for ignition switch defects in the most recent report, bringing the total to 2,818, according to Kenneth Feinberg, the lawyer handling the compensation program designed to head off litigation.
GM has 311 claims for death, 207 for catastrophic injuries and 2,300 for less-serious injuries requiring hospitalization. The number of claims found eligible for compensation rose to 121 from 112. So far, 320 claims are said to be ineligible, 857 are under review. Another 757 lacked sufficient paperwork or evidence and 763 had no documentation at all.
GM has reserved $400 million to cover the costs claims on behalf of people injured or killed because of the defective ignition switches that were part of a cover-up for more than a decade.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
