Questions still remain about the actions of General Motors regarding a small part costing less than a dollar that was left unchanged and injured potentially hundreds of people, according to GM ignition switch recall class action lawsuits that are beginning to mount.

The issue is that the key cylinder can become unstable, especially with keys that have remote entry or other objects of mild weight. A key can become dislodged and as a result the vehicle loses power in a fraction of a second due to the ignition switch defect. This not only leads to drivers losing control of the General Motors vehicle, but even deactivates the airbags and brakes.

A GM ignition switch recall class action lawsuit attorney has made recent statements indicating that the company does plan to compensate drivers and passengers involved in GM ignition car accident, although the amount that the individual GM lawsuits merit could prolong the litigation. However, the automaker has been proactive in hiring a mediator regarding the cases.

General Motors has already admitted to at least 13 deaths caused by the defects, but up to 300 have been reported by some outlets. Considering that the issue has been going on for 13 years, that number could grow even higher. And it does not even touch on the potential for non-fatal injuries.

Take airbags for instance. Without their protection, passengers can experience whiplash as well as contrecoup concussions, where the brain impacts the skull in the opposite direction of the impact due to the ricochet effect.

The vehicles named in the GM ignition switch recall include the Chevrolet Cobalt, Chevrolet Pontiac, Chevrolet HHR, Pontiac Pursuit, Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Ion, and Saturn Sky.