After a series of accidents occurred involving individuals driving General Motor made cars, the company issued a recall of over 1.6 million vehicles. The first recall took place in February 2014 and included Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Saturn vehicles.
The accidents were caused by faulty ignition switches and resulted in several deaths and serious injuries. The slightest touch could cause the car to suddenly shut off while driving on the road as a result of the faulty ignition switches. When a car is traveling at high speeds, suddenly shutting off can create a very dangerous situation. The loss of engine power also caused:
- Defective brakes
- Loss of power steering
- Air bad deactivation
Between 2003 and 2012, hundreds of deaths occurred as a result of the defective airbags. To make the recall even worse, GM disclosed that they first knew of the faulty ignition switches all the way back in 2001, but did not do anything to fix the problem, even though it was a fairly easy repair.
Since the first recall took place on February 13, 2014, GM has recalled a total of 17.5 million cars in 2014 alone, all due to the faulty ignition switch. Due to the sensitivity of the key in the ignition, GM has warned drivers to remove everything from their key rings until the problem has been fixed.
At Whitley Law Firm, our product liability attorneys have more than 80 years of experience serving individuals affected by personal injury cases. Our successful track record gives our clients the confidence they need when securing an attorney’s counsel and representation. We are committed to fighting for the highest amount of compensation possible for every client that our team takes on.
