Did your ignition switch turn off the car while you were driving and cause a crash? Contact the Houston ignition switch defect attorneys at Denena Points, PC for a free legal consultation. You might be eligible for a full financial recovery from GM and the ignition switch manufacturer because of the auto defect that led to the needless harm you suffered.
GM recently recalled 1.6 million Chevy Cobalts, Saturn Ions, Chevy HHRs, Pontiac Solstices, and Pontiac G5s. GM has since added more vehicles to the recall, and the number of potentially lethal defective vehicles now reaches almost 3 million. A defect in the ignition switch can cause the engine to turn off or to the accessory position while the car is in motion. Even something as simple as a heavy key ring or a bump in the road can cause this to happen. And without electrical power, your power steering and power brakes fail, and the airbags don’t deploy.
GM attributes 12 deaths to the problem. But our Houston ignition switch defect attorneys point out that another study has linked more than 300 deaths and many more hundreds of injuries to failure of the airbags to deploy in these GM vehicles. A U.S. Senator is calling out GM for engaging in a culture of “cover up” in relation to the defect. The U.S. NHTSA is also under fire for its failure to recognize the GM ignition switch/airbag deployment problems sooner and issue a recall.
GM has known of the problem since at least 2001, but failed to properly correct it or to recall the vehicles until just weeks ago. A GM engineer in 2007 approved tightening of a spring in the ignition switch by Delphi, the maker of the switch. The tighter spring could prevent the sudden shut off of vehicle engines due to the ignition switch falling out of position.
But the new, corrected part received the exact same part number for the market as the defective switch, so it is now virtually impossible to track down which GM vehicles have a potentially lethal ignition switch defect and which are OK. The part was sold separately in the spare parts market and also installed into vehicles at the factory. And because of the failure to re-number the new, improved switch, some vehicles might have been “repaired” with an ignition switch as defective as the one it replaced, adding gross insult to potential injury. (Peter Morgan, Reuters, 3/26/14)
Our Houston ignition switch defect attorneys emphasize that the long delay in issuing a recall for the defective ignition switch indicates that GM puts profits ahead of your safety. The failure of the NHTSA to do anything about such a widespread GM ignition switch problem might indicate that the safety watchdog also is not as concerned about your safety as it should be.
You should hold GM and Delphi accountable for the injuries and losses you’ve suffered as a result of the long delay in addressing a deadly defect. Only by making negligent manufacturers pay for their crimes can we help ensure that they won’t knowingly commit further defective products to the market that will endanger you and your loved ones.
Call the Houston ignition switch defect attorneys at Denena Points, PC today for a free, initial legal consultation to discuss your accident and evaluate your potential eligibility for a full financial recovery for the needless harm you’ve suffered as a result of an ignition switch defect or an airbag that didn’t deploy in the recalled GM vehicles. Reach us at 713-807-9500 or through our online contact form. Put our more than 12 years of experience holding negligent automakers financially accountable to injured victims behind your claim.