It’s hard to believe that its been over two years since General Motors recalled millions of vehicles due to an ignition switch defect, which may have prevented airbags from deploying in hundreds of car accidents.

As a result of GM’s actions involving the alleged defect, many personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits are being filed nationwide for car accidents involving recalled Chevrolet, Pontiac and Saturn vehicles.

Overview of GM Ignition Switch Defect Recall

The highly publicized scandal over GM’s ignition switch defect led to the automaker recalling about 778,000 Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 cars.

Shortly after the initial recall, GM expanded the recall to include 1.6 million cars and admitted that it had been aware of the ignition switch defect since at least 2001, but failed to warn customers or do anything to fix the defect.

Affected vehicles include the:

• 2005-2010 Chevrolet Cobalt
• 2005-2007 Pontiac G5
• 2003-2007 Saturn Ion
• 2006-2011 Chevrolet HHR
• 2006-2010 Pontiac Solstice
• 2007-2010 Saturn Sky

Specifically, the ignition switch defect caused the cars’ engines to turn off when the ignition switched from the “on” to the “off” position.

This is attributed to improper mechanical specifications involving a small part called a “detent plunger” that is meant to keep the ignition switch in the “On” position. The defective detent plunger did not have enough holding power to keep the switch from sometimes slipping from the “On” notch to the “Accessory” (ACC) notch.

GM has said that ignition switch defect could be caused by heavy key chains, drivers bumping the ignition, and “jarring events” such as running off the road or potholes.

Deaths Attributed to Ignition Switch Defect

GM has reportedly been less than forthcoming in explaining why it waited so long to notify customers about the dangerous ignition switch defect in these vehicles.

In 2015, the Department of Justice imposed a $900 million criminal penalty on GM for concealing safety defects from NHTSA and misleading consumers.

Over 100 deaths have been allegedly caused by the GM ignition switch defect.

Following the ignition switch defect recall and GM’s admission that it may have covered up the problem for more than a decade, the automaker established a compensation fund for families who lost loved ones in an accident as a result of the faulty ignition switch.

However, fewer than 10 percent of claims were deemed eligible for payments. Many claims were rejected on the fund’s determination that they couldn’t support a connection to the ignition switch defect.

In all, the compensation fund offered $595 million for 124 death and 275 injury claims.

Ignition Switch Defect Lawsuits

Compensation fund payouts did not prevent consumers from filing GM ignition switch defect lawsuits. In fact, GM still faces wrongful death and injury lawsuits in courts across the country. At least 234 injury and wrongful death lawsuits have been consolidated in New York federal court, with the first trial scheduled to begin in 2017.

As a result of GM’s alleged failure to warn consumers of the ignition switch defect, financial compensation may be available for those who were injured or who lost loved ones in a car accident directly resulting from the defect.

If you or a loved one was in a car accident in a GM vehicle, an experienced GM Recall attorney can review your injury claim and help you determine if a lawsuit against the automaker is the right option for you.