Fourth GM Ignition Switch Bellwether Lawsuit Dismissed
General Motors Co. says a fourth test case involving its faulty ignition switches has been dropped by plaintiffs.
#legal
General Motors Co. says a fourth test case involving its faulty ignition switches has been dropped by plaintiffs. The complaint had been scheduled to begin a jury trial in July.
The ruling marks the fourth consecutive win for GM in a series of six so-called bellwether lawsuits being heard this year before the New York City court of U.S. Circuit Court Judge Jesse Furman. The outcomes of the cases are intended to help both sides settle 234 similar lawsuits aggregated in Furman’s court.
The complaints blame injuries and/or fatalities on crashes caused when the ignition switches abruptly shut off the engine, power steering, power brakes and airbags.
Plaintiffs in the first lawsuit dropped their case after GM presented evidence they had lied to the court. The jury in the second trial agreed the GM switch was defective but said the device didn’t cause the low-speed crash cited in the complaint. Last week GM settled the third case, which involved a fatality, to avoid a trial.
RELATED CONTENT
-
GM Develops a New Electrical Platform
GM engineers create a better electrical architecture that can handle the ever-increasing needs of vehicle systems
-
Things to Know About Cam Grinding
By James Gaffney, Product Engineer, Precision Grinding and Patrick D. Redington, Manager, Precision Grinding Business Unit, Norton Company (Worcester, MA)
-
Plastics: The Tortoise and the Hare
Plastic may not be in the news as much as some automotive materials these days, but its gram-by-gram assimilation could accelerate dramatically.