Mexican Media Brands
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.
#legal
Share
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.
RELATED CONTENT
-
China Prepares to Sanction U.S. Carmaker for Price Fixing
China is preparing to fine an undisclosed U.S. carmaker for ordering its distributors to fix prices beginning in 2014, according to China Daily. Media reports say General Motors Co. is the target.
-
Bosch Targeted in Criminal Probe of VW Diesel Cheating in U.S.
Federal prosecutors in the U.S. are trying to determine whether Robert Bosch GmbH conspired to help Volkswagen AB—and perhaps other carmakers—rig their diesel engines to evade emission standards, sources tell Bloomberg News.
-
Tesla’s Autopilot Feature Deemed Partly to Blame in Fatal Crash
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has concluded that Tesla Inc.’s semi-autonomous Autopilot feature was partly to blame for a crash 15 months ago that killed one of the carmaker’s customers.