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U.S. Judge Limits Expert Testimony in GM Ignition Switch Lawsuits
The U.S. district court judge overseeing hundreds of complaints about faulty General Motors Co. ignition switches has curbed the introduction of certain “expert” testimony, Reuters reports.
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The U.S. district court judge overseeing hundreds of complaints about faulty General Motors Co. ignition switches has curbed the introduction of certain “expert” testimony, Reuters reports.
The switches can be easily jogged out of the “run” position, thereby turning off the engine and disabling the car’s power steering, power brakes and airbags. GM has acknowledged the devices are to blame for 124 deaths and 275 major injuries.
But Judge Jesse Furman ruled as “unreliable” expert testimony in two bellwether cases apparently involving crashes in which the airbags deployed. Both lawsuits sought to include expert opinion that the switches were jolted enough to incapacitate the engine, thereby causing a crash or making it worse, and then were jolted back into the “run” position in time to deploy the airbags upon impact.
Furman notes there has been no evidence that the claimed “double switch rotation” has ever occurred under any conditions anywhere. As a result, he says, the opinions of the plaintiffs’ experts in the two cases don’t meet the court’s standards for reliability and relevancy.
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